Darkness Falls
by Sparkle731
Summary: Simon Marcus is dead but he still has followers who want revenge and this time they have Starsky and Hutch both in their clutches. This is a dark tale with lots of violence. Chapters 10 thru 16 posted. Story is now complete.
1. Chapter 1

**DARKNESS FALLS**

**Simon Marcus is dead but he still has followers who want revenge and this time they have Starsky and Hutch both in their clutches. This is a dark tale with lots of violence. If this offends you, this is not the story for you. **

**CHAPTER 1**

David Starsky strolled into the detective squad room with a characteristic strut to his step. In one hand he held a chocolate iced doughnut and in the other he held a cup of coffee from a local carryout. His partner, Ken Hutchinson, known as Hutch to his friends and co-workers, was already seated at his half of their shared desk.

"Morning, partner." Starsky greeted his partner as he flipped his chair around and straddled the seat. He stuffed the rest of his doughnut in his mouth and chewed happily washing it down with swallow of his coffee.

Before Hutch could greet his partner, Captain Dobey's voice bellowed form behind his closed door. "Starsky! Hutchinson! Get in here!"

"How the hell does he do that?" Starsky muttered as he brushed his hands off on his faded jeans and shoved himself to his feet.

Hutch shrugged his shoulders as he stood up. "Maybe he's got the squad room bugged." He suggested with a grin. Captain Dobey did seem to possess an eerie sixth sense that seemed to alert him whenever his favorite pair of detectives was in the squad room.

The two men entered Dobey's inner office. Starsky caught the door with the edge of his foot and pulled it shut behind him, earning him a steely glare from the heavy set black man sitting behind the desk.

"Starsky!" He barked. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

"Mornin', Cap." Starsky said, ignoring the reprimand as he sprawled in one of the two chairs facing the Captain's desk with his long legs stretched out in front of him.

"Good morning, Captain." Hutch said more politely as he took a seat in the second chair at his partner's side.

Dobey leaned back in his chair and regarded his men solemnly. In a gruff voice he said abruptly, "Simon Marcus is dead. He was found murdered in his cell at San Quentin early this morning. Someone slit his throat and then bashed in his skull for good measure."

Starsky and Hutch exchanged a meaningful look at the unexpected news. They both remembered Simon Marcus with vivid clarity. The man had been a monster who had murdered and mutilated an estimated twenty-five men, women and children with the help of his band of drugged and brainwashed followers. His victims had been butchered as part of satanic rituals performed by Marcus and his sect.

It had taken months of painstaking investigation to finally get enough evidence to arrest Marcus and, eventually, to try him for the murder of nine people. Although Starsky and Hutch were both convinced that the number of Marcus' victims was much higher, they couldn't collect enough solid evidence to pin any additional murders on the charismatic cult leader.

Marcus had been found guilty on all counts and on the day of his sentencing, some of his followers had abducted Starsky from a bathroom in the downtown courthouse. They had issued an ultimatum and given the city twenty-four hours to free Marcus or they would kill Starsky. Hutch had doggedly followed the available evidence and had managed to rescue Starsky with only moments to spare. Marcus' followers had been about to butcher him in the same grotesque manner as their other victims. Starsky's physical injuries had healed but it had taken weeks for him to recover mentally from the trauma of his abduction.

Even with Marcus' sentencing to death row and the arrest and conviction of his key followers, the warden at San Quentin had reported periodically that Marcus remained obsessed with Starsky. In his warped and twisted mind Marcus believed that he could foretell Starsky's fate with his dreams. Although it had been almost six years since he had been sent to death row appeals had postponed his execution date several times. This time there would no appeal. He was rotting in hell where he belonged.

Dobey watched the silent communication that seemed to flow between his two detectives. Starsky and Hutch often seemed to carry on entire conversations without speaking a word. At other times, they spoke a verbal shorthand that only they understood. Dobey had grown accustomed to seeing them do it over the years but it could still be unnerving to witness.

Clearing his throat loudly, Dobey continued with his briefing of his men. "We'll probably never know who murdered him. Most of the other inmates were either scared to death of him or they hated his guts. We've got a whole cell block full of potential suspects and the majority of them are already on death row."

"And they all had a motive." Hutch commented dryly. He was enough of a realist to admit that there were some cases that would never be solved and Marcus' murder was more than likely one of them.

"He got what he had coming to him." Starsky added "I'm surprised that it took somebody this long to take him out."

"I just thought the two of should know before you heard it on the news." Dobey said gruffly. "Now get out of here and get to work."

Starsky and Hutch rose to their feet and left the Captain's office. Hutch grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and followed his partner out of the squad room.

They went down the rear stairway and out the exit to the employee parking lot. As usual, Hutch felt a sudden chill crawl down his spine as they stepped out of the building. Two years ago, he had almost lost Starsky when they were ambushed in this very parking lot by two assassins disguised as uniformed officers.

Starsky had been shot at almost point blank range and had suffered five life threatening wounds to his chest and abdomen. Hutch had been terrified that Starsky would die in his arms before the help he needed so desperately arrived. By some miracle, he had survived long enough to reach the hospital and then he had pulled through a grueling ten hours of emergency surgery as the doctors fought to repair the massive damage to his internal organs.

The doctors had still expected him die. In their professional opinion, the damage to his body was just too great. Their prophecy almost came true when Starsky flat lined just hours after surgery. The myth surrounding the unique bond that the two men shared had been strengthened when Starsky's heart had miraculously started beating again at the exact moment that Hutch burst thought the doors that led into the ICU.

Against all odds, Starsky had survived the assassination attempt but it taken him almost a year of excruciating pain and intense physical therapy before he was deemed recovered enough to reclaim his rightful place at Hutch's side. Hutch had used up all of his own sick days and personal leave, finally resorting to a leave of absence without pay, to care for Starsky during his convalescence. As a result, the bond between them had deepened until they were virtually inseparable.

They had both avoided parking in the employee lot for months until they finally dealt with the memory of what had happened there. But, that didn't stop Hutch from catching his breath and feeling sick to his stomach each time he stepped out on that tarmac.

The two detectives walked across the lot to Starsky's pride and joy, his 1973 Ford Gran Torino. The Torino was a distinctive looking vehicle with its custom paint job. The car had been almost as damaged as its owner in the shooting. And, although he claimed to hate 'the striped tomato', it had saved Hutch's life that day protecting him from the hail of bullets that had cut Starsky down. Knowing how much Starsky loved that car, Hutch and everyone one else in the department had pitched in to have it repaired. By the time Starsky was released from the hospital six weeks after the shooting, the car was as good as new.

The two men climbed into the car and Starsky twisted the key in the ignition. The powerful engine roared to life and Starsky pulled out of the lot with a squeal of his tires. Turning east, the two men prepared to start patrolling their assigned distract in the notorious inner city neighborhood where they spent the majority of their working hours.

Shortly before noon, Starsky pulled into the alley behind a downtown bar and grill named _The Pits._ He parked in a spot just outside the rear entrance that was designated as a loading and unloading zone_. _The sign was a distraction that had been posted there as a favor by Huggy Bear, the owner of the bar. It kept the space open and gave the two detectives a private place to park so as not to attract attention to their presence in the bar.

Climbing out of the car, the two men strolled around to the front of the building and entered through the main entrance. The bar opened at eleven for the lunch trade and it was one of the most popular eating spots in the neighborhood. The food was good and relatively inexpensive with generous servings. And it was a well known fact that Huggy Bear kept out the troublemakers.

Only the DMV, the IRS, his relatives, and a few trusted friends knew Huggy Bear's real name. The tall thin black man and Starsky were old friends. They had met shortly after a thirteen year old Starsky had been sent to Bay City to live with relatives. Huggy had helped Starsky to adjust to the culture shock of moving from New York to California. He had been there when Starsky had desperately needed a friend that he could rely on and confide in.

Huggy served as Starsky and Hutch's best link to the streets. He was an invaluable source of information and had numerous contacts all over the city. If anyone could find out anything in a relatively short period of time, it was Huggy Bear. Suspects and potential informants often contacted Huggy before they would anyone else because they knew that he could be trusted and would pass their information along to Starsky and Hutch without telling them where the information came from.

Starsky spotted two empty stools at the end of the bar and led the way though the crowd to the vacated seats. Huggy Bear was working behind the bar while his two best waitresses waited on the customers sitting at the tables and booths scattered throughout the room. As the two detectives settled on the bar stools Huggy glanced in their direction with a curt nod to acknowledge their arrival.

Huggy immediately filled two tall glasses with ice and filled them with iced tea. He sat the drinks down on the bar in front of Starsky and Hutch with a flourish. He knew that they were on duty and couldn't drink anything alcoholic while they were working.

"Hey, Hug," Starsky greeted him with a lopsided grin. "How's it hanging?"

"A little to the left most of the time." Huggy shot back with a smirk. He leaned closer and lowered his voice so that only the two detectives could hear him. "A little birdy told me that somebody finally iced that crazy bastard, Simon Marcus. About time if you ask me. Nobody in his right mind is gonna be sorry that he's gone."

"It just happened this morning," Hutch said with a frown that deepened the natural crease between his eyebrows. "Don't tell me it's on the news already."

"Come on, Blondie…you know I don't need the news to tell me what's happening." Huggy chided Hutch in a mocking tone.

"At least nobody else is gonna suffer because of that prick." Starsky said. He took a swallow of his iced tea and sat the glass down a bit harder than necessary. "They should have fried his ass a long time ago."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Huggy said. He had helped Hutch and Captain Dobey to sift through one of Marcus' cryptic messages which actually held the clues that had helped Hutch to find Starsky before it was too late. Huggy also had a vested interest in the case because one of the cult's early victims had been an acquaintance of the lanky bartender. "It's too bad that monsters like that still have rights too."

"Yeah, and a good attorney who knows how to manipulate those rights." Hutch grumbled. "And keep criminals like Marcus alive for years."

"Until he meets up with some good ole fashioned jail house justice." Starsky added. "Sometimes there is a God after all and now Marcus is rotting in hell where he belongs."

The biggest complaint that Starsky and Hutch had about their job was the legal system that protected criminals like Marcus and the attorneys who manipulated that system to get vicious killers off with just a slap on the wrist until they did something so atrocious that it was no longer possible to look the other way. Rapists, child molesters, murderers…there were dozens of them out there on the streets because of the flaws in the legal system. Even the ones that Starsky and Hutch managed to send away seldom stayed away for very long. Eventually they ended up back out on the streets wreaking havoc.

"You guys eating today or just wetting your whistles?" Huggy asked as he used a bar rag to wipe off the scarred top of the bar.

"Eating. I'm starved." Starsky said quickly before Hutch could answer.

"Starsky, you're always starving." Hutch teased him good naturedly. He turned his attention back to Huggy Bear and said, "I'll have a chef's salad with oil and vinegar on the side."

"And I'll have two cheeseburgers with the works and a double order of fires." Starsky told him. Huggy nodded and walked over to the crossover window between the bar and the kitchen to turn in their orders. When he was done he turned his attention to a demanding customer at the other end of the bar.

Starsky and Hutch were finishing up their food when Huggy rejoined them. Collecting their empty dishes, he said, "Hey…can you guys stop by after you get off work tonight?"

"Yeah, sure." Starsky answered for both of them. "What's up?"

"You remember that kid? Dylan?"

"The runaway from Nebraska?" Hutch said. "The one you had doing odd jobs around here for a while."

"That's the one." Huggy said "I think he got himself messed up in something and now he's in over his head. I thought maybe you two could talk to him."

"We can give it a shot." Starsky said "Do you think he'll trust us enough to open up to us?"

"I told him that you two would be square with him. He's just a scared kid and doesn't know who he can trust." Huggy said "I think he's probably being pressured by one of the local pimps to join his stable."

"There are a lot of chicken hawks out there looking for fresh meat." Hutch remarked as the two detectives slid off their stools and prepared to get back to work.

"Dirty old men who get their rocks off messing with kids." Starsky growled. "They should all be castrated."

"Wouldn't work." Hutch quipped "Some lawyer would probably come along and say it was a violation of their legal right to exercise their sexual preferences."

"You're probably right." Starsky said with a snort. He turned his attention back to Huggy "We'll be here as soon as we get off tonight. Probably around five-thirty or six unless something comes up." Huggy nodded and returned to his own tasks as Starsky and Hutch left the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

The two detectives spent the rest of the afternoon cruising their district simply making their presence known by their appearance on the streets. They stopped to talk to a couple of potential witnesses to a recent robbery at a neighborhood deli, investigated a report of domestic violence that turned out to be unfounded, and picked up a juvenile who was wanted for violating his probation. Compared to some of their days, it was a relatively quiet shift. They even managed to finish up most of their reports and leave work on time.

Remembering their promise to Huggy, Starsky turned the Torino in the direction of The Pits. He muttered several colorful obscenities under his breath as he began making his way through the rush hour traffic that was always more congested in the downtown area. The heavier traffic in Bay City was one of the biggest obstacles that Hutch had to overcome when he first moved to the west coast.

It was still fairly early for most of the nighttime regulars so the bar wasn't as crowded as it had been at lunchtime. Huggy's night shift bartender, Anita, was on duty behind the bar and two of his regular waitresses were working the floor. All three women wore snug white tee shirts with _The Pits_ printed across the front. Huggy was free to float around and help out wherever needed throughout the night.

Huggy spotted his two friends as soon as they entered the bar and hurried to meet them.

"Dylan's waiting for you guys out back." Huggy told them. "He's really spooked about something so you're gonna have to handle him with kid gloves."

"Don't worry." Hutch assured the concerned bartender with a smile. "We won't scare him off."

"I'll be around if you need me." Huggy said confident that his young friend was in good hands. He hurried off to investigate a loud crash from the direction of the kitchen.

Starsky and Hutch walked back to a short hallway that led to the rear exit. As they stepped out into the alley, two sets of blue eyes automatically scanned their immediate surroundings. There was a battered black van parked at the opposite end of the alley in front of the rear entrance to another business on the block and an abandoned motorcycle leaned around the side of the dumpster. Dusk had fallen over the city but it wasn't dark enough yet for the streetlights to come on.

"Hello!" Hutch called out "Dylan? Are you here? It's Starsky and Hutch, Huggy Bear's friends."

Starsky heard a rustling sound to his left and glanced in that direction. A boy in his late teens stepped out into the open. His dirty blonde hair was badly in need of a trim and his faded blue jeans were dirty and stained. Pale blue eyes flitted around nervously and the boy looked scared.

Starsky smiled in an attempt to put the skittish adolescent at ease. "I'm Starsky." He said "And this is my partner, Hutch."

"Huggy said you guys could help me." The boy said in a hoarse voice that sounded as if he had cold.

"We can try. Why don't you tell us what's going on?" Hutch suggested with an encouraging smile.

"There's a girl…she's back in that van." Dylan said. He jerked his head back towards the black van at the end of the alley. "You have to promise to help her…she's hurt."

"We'll do what we can." Hutch said. "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

The boys shook his head and took a step backwards. "You have to help her first. She needs help now…" To emphasize his words, he turned and ran towards the van.

Starsky and Hutch exchanged a glance and hurried down the alley after him. As they approached the van Starsky was several steps ahead of Hutch. Suddenly, Hutch caught a glimpse of an unexpected movement out of the corner of his eye. He automatically reached under his jacket with his right hand for his gun even as something hard slammed into his shoulder sending a flare of agony down his arm and numbing his hand almost immediately. He cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees, instinctively cradling his injured arm protectively against his chest as his gun fell to the trash littered pavement.

Starsky skidded to a halt and spun around at his partner's cry of pain. Seeing two men looming over his obviously injured partner, Starsky immediately realized that they had been lured into a trap. His left hand instinctively reached for his own weapon just as a gravely voice spoke from the shadows on Starsky's left.

"Don't do it or your partner is a dead man."

Behind Starsky the rear door to the van flew open and several hooded figures spilled out into the alley. They immediately surrounded the two detectives. Starsky's heart pounded with fear when he realized that the figures all wore long black robes with an inverted red cross imprinted on the front. The image of the robes brought back terrifying memories of being held prisoner by Simon Marcus' followers six years ago.

A tall muscular man, also dressed in one of the robes of Marcus' disciples, stepped out of a hidden doorway on Starsky's left. His face was hidden by the heavy hood that covered his head.

"Down on your knees, pig." He ordered gruffly. When Starsky hesitated, he nodded at the two men standing over Hutch. One of them pulled a hypodermic needle from the folds of his cloak and grabbed Hutch's hair with one hand, jerking back the blond's head. With his other hand he pressed the point of the needle against the side of Hutch's neck.

Do it!" the man ordered Starsky again "Or your partner is a dead man. There's enough cyanide in that needle to kill him instantly."

Reluctantly, Starsky dropped to his knees and laced his hands behind his head while keeping a cautious, watchful eye on the men surrounding the two detectives.

"Get his gun." The man ordered gruffly.

The teenage boy took a cautious step towards Starsky and knelt down beside him reaching underneath his jacket to retrieve his gun,

"Don't do it, kid…" Starsky said "You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Kidnapping two cops is a felony."

"Shut up! You don't know nothing!" Dylan yelled all traces of fear gone from his eyes. "Why should I trust you? This is my family! They're the only ones who have ever cared about me!"

"They don't care about you!" Starsky said sharply "When they don't need you around anymor you'll end up just like all the rest!"

He knew that his words were falling on deaf ears. He had seen the look in the boy's eyes. He had been successfully brainwashed by the cult and would do their bidding. Dylan smiled coldly as he pulled Starsky's weapon out of his shoulder harness and slipped it beneath the waistband of his jeans.

Starsky didn't see the cult member that was creeping up behind him carrying a heavy wooden bat in his hand. He screamed in pain when the cultist swung the bat, slamming it into the small of Starsky's back with a sickening thud. Starsky crumbled to the ground unconscious. At the same time, the man holding the needle against the side of Hutch's throat, sank the point into Hutch's neck and pushed down on the plunger. Almost immediately, Hutch toppled forward face down in the littered alley.

Joshua, the self appointed leader of the group since Simon's murder conviction, gave a curt nod of his head and several of the other cult members stepped forward to pick up Starsky and Hutch's unconscious bodies. They lifted them up and dumped them unceremoniously into the back of the van. The rest of the cult members began to pile back into the battered van along with their prisoners.

"You did very well, my son." Joshua told Dylan "You will be rewarded for your loyalty when we return to the compound."

"Thank you, Joshua." Dylan said with a pleased smile. He was delighted to have met with Joshua's approval. He had been careful to follow Joshua's instructions to the letter. He had been proud to have been selected for this mission when Joshua had approached him over three weeks ago and outlined his plan for abducting the two detectives.

It had been easy for Dylan to gain Huggy's trust. Everyone on the streets knew that the black man often gave street kids odd jobs around the bar to pick up some extra cash when they needed it. And it was no secret that he was a close friend of Starsky and Hutch.

"Get the bike and follow the van." Joshua said as he climbed into the front seat beside the driver. "Your job here is done."

Dylan ran back to the motorcycle that was leaning against the dumpster and straddled the seat as he turned it around so that it faced the opposite direction towards the van. Just as Dylan kicked started the bike, the back door of The Pits flew open and Huggy appeared in the doorway. 

"HEY!" he yelled "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE!"

The black van roared to life and tore out of the alley. Dylan followed, the rear wheel of the bike skidding sideways as he picked up speed. Huggy quickly darted back inside the bar to call the police and report that Starsky and Hutch had been abducted.

Less than ten minutes later, two black and whites arrived followed closely by a lab team, a team of investigators and Captain Dobey himself. Dobey glowered darkly as Huggy quickly told him as much as he knew about what had happened to his two detectives.

"I told you, I don't know nothing about him except that his name is Dylan and he's supposedly a runaway from somewhere in Nebraska." Huggy repeated for what seemed like the tenth time. "He started hanging around the neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and I gave him a some odd jobs once in awhile so he'd have some spending money." Huggy paced the floor anxiously as he spoke. He felt guilty knowing that he had unwittingly helped to set up two of his best friends and sent them into an ambush.

"Why did he want to see Starsky and Hutch?" Dobey demanded.

Huggy looked sheepish and said, "That was my idea. He came in here a couple of days ago and told me that he thought he was in some kind of trouble and didn't know what to do. He made it sound like somebody was pressuring him to do something illegal. I told him about Starsky and Hutch and said that if anybody could help him then they could."

"And you didn't get a good look at the van?" Dobey asked, consulting the notes he had already taken about the incident.

"No. All I can tell you is that it was an older model with a lot of dents and that the license plate looked like it was covered with mud or something. It tore out of the alley and turned left on Marshal. Dylan was right behind it on a black Harley. It looked like an older model bike…probably second hand."

"One of my men found Hutch's gun lying in the alley but there was no sign of Starsky's weapon." Dobey said. "It would have taken more than one man to subdue Starsky and Hutch both. We have to assume that one or both of them is hurt."

"You don't think this has anything to do with Simon Marcus, do you?" Huggy asked with a grim expression on his hawk like face. Starsky and Hutch's abduction seemed to be too coincidental with Marcus' murder occurring that same morning.

"I hope not," Dobey said gruffly as he stuffed his notepad back into his jacket pocket. "Starsky barely made it through the last time that bunch of lunatics grabbed him…and Hutch was out there looking for him every single minute. Neither one of them has that going for them this time."

The burly black man pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. He was getting too old for this kind of stress. He was eligible for retirement. Maybe it was time he seriously started considering handing in his resignation and enjoying the time he had left with his family. God knows he had put them through enough during his twenty plus years on the force. He reminded himself to call Edith and tell her that he wouldn't be home for a couple of hours yet.

"But, they still have us." Huggy said in a fiercely determined voice. "I'll get the word out on the streets right away and see if I can turn up anything."

"You do that. In the meantime, I'll get an APB out on both of them and every officer in this city will be looking for them and that van."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Joshua pushed back the hood of the heavy clock and glanced into the back of the van at the two men they had abducted. It was a long drive to their hidden compound but he was confident that they would both remain unconscious until long after their arrival. Even in death, the Master's dreams must be obeyed. The final retribution was at hand.

He shifted his gaze to the side mirror and looked behind the van to make sure Dylan was still following them. The boy had shown his loyalty to them today and that loyalty would be rewarded in due time. Dylan had only been with them for a few months and had never actually participated in one of their rituals but that was all about to chance. That would be the final test of the boy's commitment to the Master and his cause. If he proved unworthy then he would find himself part of the ritual instead of a mere participant in the ceremony.

Joshua turned his attention back to the road in front of them. The van had turned off the main highway and was now traveling along a rutted dirt road that led into a heavily wooded area hidden deep in the mountain range that surrounded Bay City. It was still at least a twenty minute drive before they reached the compound. Great care had been taken when choosing the location for their hideaway. It would be almost impossible to spot from the air and an outsider would never be able to find it without a guide.

Joshua had taken over as the guiding leader when Matthew and Luke were arrested. Under his tutelage the remaining cult members had thrived and new members had been recruited. Over the years, Joshua had achieved almost as much power within the sect as his predecessors. He had nourished the myth of Marcus and his ideals while incorporating his own ideals into the existing structure of the cult.

"Is everything in place in the cave?" Joshua asked the driver, a tall skinny youth named Noah.

"Yes. Amanda and Joseph were finishing up when we left."

"Good. You know what to do with our two friends when we arrive." A thin smile tugged at Joshua's lips. "Make sure the white knight has a good view of Polaris at all times. We wouldn't want him to miss any of the action once the ritual begins."

Noah nodded in acknowledgement as he turned onto a concealed path that led back to the cult's hidden compound. As he drove over the top of a high ridge, the first view of the complex came into sight.

There were two small outbuildings that served as storage sheds and a large barn that housed the animals that kept the cultists supplied with meat and milk. Two acres behind the barn had been planted with vegetables to supplement their diet. A large one story cinderblock building stood in the middle of the clearing. It was the building where the members carried out their daily routines and where they all slept at night. Approximately a mile from the main compound was a huge cave. That was where they carried out their rituals and that was where Starsky and Hutch were to be taken.

Noah stopped the van to let Joshua off in front of the barn along with most of the cult members in the rear of the van. Then he headed on towards the cave followed closely by Dylan on the bike. Joshua watched until the van was out of sight and then he walked across the clearing and disappeared into the main building.

When the van reached the entrance to the cave Norah and two cult members who had remained in the van climbed out. One of them reached into the back of the van and grabbed Hutch's legs pulling the lanky blond out of the vehicle. A second cultist grabbed Hutch under the arms and they carried his body deep into the interior of the cave until they reached a huge open cavern where most their rituals were carried out.

Along the east wall two heavy shackles had been embedded into the ceiling of the cave. One of the men supported Hutch's weight while the second man fastened a shackle around each wrist so that Hutch's body hung suspended from the ceiling with his arms stretched above his head. Although his feet touched the floor, since he was still unconscious Hutch's weight was supported completely by his bound wrists. When they had finished the two men left Hutch hanging there as they returned to the van for Starsky.

When they brought Starsky into the cave, they dropped him to the ground in the center of the cavern. One of them tied a blindfold securely around Starsky's eyes and then bound his wrists together behind his back with a rough hemp rope. He left Starsky's feet untied since the ritual had to begin with the reenactment of Starsky's original captivity by the cult six years ago. Simon's dreams before he died had been very specific about Starsky's punishment for escaping Marcus's clutches the first time. Heavenly Polaris must pay for disrupting Simon's original plans for him. The disobedient disciple, Gail, had already paid for her part in his escape with her life. Once they were positive that their prisoners were secured and still unconscious, they returned to the van where they rejoined Noah and Dylan. The four of them returned to the compound to report to Joshua that the first part of their plan had been successfully cared out.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Starsky moaned and struggled to open his eyes. His heart pounded frantically when he remained in total darkness until he became aware enough to realize that he was blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. Suddenly, he found himself thrust into the middle of a nightmare. As consciousness returned he could hear the sound of shuffling feet around him and the insistent chanting "Simon, Simon, Simon, Simon…"

"Nooooo…" A ragged shout tore from Starsky's throat before he could stop it. For a moment, he was overwhelmed with terror as memories of his previous abduction flooded his mind. "You fuckers!" Starsky screamed at his tormenters as his anger overrode the fear. "You didn't beat me the last time and you aren't going to this time either!"

As if they were just waiting for his words to trigger the violence the circling cultists began beating their captive. Unseen feet kicked at Starsky's back and stomach, while heavier weapons landed blows on his legs, shoulders and ribs. The blows were delivered without warning and accompanied by the same insistent chanting that grated on Starsky's nerves. Unable to see past the blindfold covering his eyes, Starsky was unable to deflect the blows. The best he could do was to curl up into a fetal position and protect the more vulnerable parts of his anatomy as he waited for the attack to end.

Just a few feet away Hutch watched helplessly as the hooded figures attacked his defenseless partner. Hutch wanted to scream at them to stop but he couldn't speak past the dirty rag that had been stuffed into his mouth to silence him. He tugged in vain at the shackles that held him prisoner until he felt the warmth of his own blood running down his forearms. A choked sob caught in his throat as he watched the vicious attack on Starsky continue.

The beating finally stopped when Starsky passed out. Hutch breathed a sigh of relief but it was short lived as he watched two cult members grab Starsky under his arms and pull him over to one corner of the cavern where they leaned him against the wall. Another cult member, a woman, approached with a bucket. She tipped the bucket and poured a pail full of water over Starsky's head reviving the brunet somewhat. Starsky sputtered and shook his head at the unexpected drenching. Even from his vantage point, Hutch could see Starsky begin to shiver from the coldness of the water.

Suddenly, one of the cultists approached Hutch. Unlike the others, his hood was pushed back revealing his face. He was a tall man with high cheekbones and long dark hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Piercing green eyes looked at Hutch as the man said,

"This time you shall bear witness to Heavenly Polaris' punishment. You shall watch as he atones for his sins and embraces his destiny. This time there will be no White Knight to ride to his rescue. The White Knight is no more…the darkness has put its mark on both of you."

The man turned and walked away. Hutch struggled against his bonds once more and cursed the cult silently in his mind. He fought back the fear that rose in his throat. This time Hutch knew that their luck may have finally run out. Always before when one of them was in danger, the other one was still out there looking for them. But, not this time. This time they were both in danger and nobody had any idea where they were or who had abducted them. He knew that Huggy had probably realized that they were missing by now and had sounded the alarm but how much time did they have left before their time ran out?

Hutch tried to use his tongue to push the gag out of his mouth without any success. The rag was soaking up all the moisture in his mouth. His throat was parched and he longed for a drink of water but remembering the tainted water that the cult had given Starsky the last time, Hutch knew that he wouldn't be able to drink anything even if it was offered to him.

The cult milled around the interior of the cavern ignoring both Starsky and Hutch. The sweet smell of marijuana filled the air as several of the male disciples lit up. One of the men walked over to Starsky who was still dazed and only semi-conscious. Hutch flinched as the man ground out the burning tip of his joint against the side of Starsky's neck. The brunet's strangled cry of pain echoed in the air.

Suddenly, the man that had spoken to Hutch strode across the room and grabbed the other man by the cowl of his robe and pulled him away from Starsky.

"YOU FOOL!" the man yelled at the other disciple. "It is not your place to mark Polaris! Simon has already put his brand on him!" He backhanded the smaller man knocking him to the ground. "If you touch him again…you will take his place!" The other man cowered on the ground as Joshua stomped away.

The other cultists began to drift away blowing out the candles that flickered around the interior of the cavern as they left. The cave was left in total darkness, so dark that no hint of light could be seen. Apparently, they were finished tormenting the two detectives for the time being.

Hutch hung there in the darkness and tried to ignore his own discomfort and pain. His right arm and shoulder had gone numb and he was fairly certain that the shoulder had been dislocated during the attack in the alley. The shackles around his wrists restricted the circulation to his hands which were beginning to swell. The skin around his wrists had been rubbed away during his earlier struggles and the burning sting that remained seemed minor compared to Hutch's other aches and pains.

But Hutch's primary concern was not for himself. It was for his partner's welfare. He had no doubt that the cult intended to kill them both but not before making them both suffer as much as possible. And Hutch knew in his gut that the plan was probably to kill Starsky first while Hutch was forced to watch. If things went that far then Hutch wouldn't care what they did to him after that. He would rather face his own death than go on living without Starsky by his side.

After the assassination attempt on their lives in the police garage the doctors kept telling Hutch that Starsky was going to die because he had suffered massive damage. Within hours of the shooting, Hutch had decided that if that happened, he would stay alive long enough to hunt down the man responsible for ordering the hit. When he found him Hutch would kill him and then kill himself. But, then Hutch had been granted a miracle and Starsky had pulled through. This time Hutch didn't think that either one of them had any miracles left.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Hutch jerked awake with a start silently cursing himself for dozing off. The pitch blackness of the cave had lulled him into a false sense of security. It was unsettling to know that his eyes were open and still find himself staring into darkness. It was also disorienting and prevented him from having any sense of time. He had no idea how long he and Starsky had been left alone in the darkness. If the pain in his gut was any indication, it had been quite some time.

His stomach growled reminding him abruptly that he hadn't eaten for several hours. Hutch knew that an adult could survive for several weeks without food as long as they had water. But, a man could die from dehydration in a matter of days without fluids. Hutch didn't believe that the cult intended to allow either one of them to stay alive long enough to die from either starvation or dehydration. They would be killed as part of one of their rituals and probably mutilated in the process like Simon's other victims had been.

A flickering light in the darkness alerted Hutch to someone approaching from the tunnel to his left. A few moments later, a young woman in a flowing white gown with long black hair entered the cave. She walked over to where Starsky still leaned limply against one wall of the cave.

Hutch watched as she knelt down beside the brunet and murmured to him softly, too quietly for Hutch to hear what she was saying. Her movements indicated that she was giving Starsky something but with her back towards him, Hutch's view of Starsky was obstructed.

She straightened up and turned to face Hutch with a graceful twist. As she came closer Hutch could see the lantern she held in one hand and the plastic water bottle she held in the other hand. Stepping in front of Hutch, she sat the lantern down on the floor at her feet and reached up to pull the soiled rag out of Hutch's mouth.

Hutch immediately began swallowing and moving his tongue around inside his mouth desperately trying to work up some moisture. The woman held up the water bottle offering him a drink but Hutch stubbornly turned his head to one side.

"Drink," the woman said in a gentle, musical voice "It's just water. I promise. There's nothing in it that will harm you."

Hutch wasn't sure that he could trust her but his thirst was stronger then his caution. He opened his lips and let the woman tip the bottle up to his mouth, gulping down the cool, refreshing water greedily. The woman pulled the bottle away before he had a chance to drink his fill.

"That's enough for now," She said sweetly. "You don't want to make yourself sick by drinking too much too fast."

"How long have I been here?" Hutch forced the words out of his dry, parched throat. The sound he made bore little resemblance to his normal speaking voice. He swallowed again and tried to clear his throat. He drank gratefully when the woman offered him some more of the cool, soothing water.

"Joshua and the others brought you here two days ago." She answered as she recapped the bottle.

"How's my friend? How's Starsky?" Hutch demanded unconcerned about his well being. Starsky came first.

"You mean Polaris? He's fine…he's sleeping. Joshua had me give him his medicine."

"Medicine? What the hell did you do? What did you give him?" Hutch's voice grew stronger as his concern for Starsky's safety escalated.

"I gave him something to make him sleep until it is time for the cleansing ceremony to begin." The woman told him speaking as if she were talking to a dense child.

"What cleansing ceremony?" Hutch asked his voice spiking with renewed fear. "What are they going to do to him?"

"They're not going to hurt him." She reassured Hutch patiently. "But, he must be cleansed before the rituals can continue. You don't need to worry. It doesn't concern you."

"Anything to do to my partner concerns me!" Hutch said firmly.

"But, he is not your partner any longer. He belongs to the master now. He bears Simon's mark on his soul."

The woman picked up the lantern and turned as if to leave.

"WAIT!" Hutch said sharply. "Don't leave! You have to help us!"

The woman ignored Hutch's plea and left the cavern once more plunging the cave into darkness as the light from the lantern disappeared down the tunnel. Thankfully, she had left the gag out of his mouth.

"Starsky? Babe, are you awake? Can you hear me?" Hutch called out. Even though the woman said that she had given Starsky something to make him sleep, Hutch desperately needed to hear Starsky's voice. There was no answer just a heavy silence that hung in the air.

"Hang on, buddy…just hang on." Hutch said in a weary voice. "Hang on…for me."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Back in Bay City, almost forty miles away, Huggy Bear scowled as he hung up the phone. None of his usual contacts seemed to know anything about Starsky and Hutch's mysterious disappearance. But, at least two of them had told him that Marcus' former cult still existed and that new members had been recruited as recently as two months ago. That information alone reinforced Huggy's suspicions that Marcus' murder was somehow connected to whatever had happened to his friends. He decided to concentrate his efforts on seeing what he could find out about Dylan since the teenager was obviously connected to their abduction and to Simon Marcus.

"Hey, Diana!" Huggy called out to his head waitress who was stocking the bar. "Take over for me…I have to go out for a while."

"Are you going to be back before we get slammed?" Diana asked "You know it's gonna be busy tonight after the game."

"Yeah, I should be back before then." Huggy told her "I should only be gone a couple of hours. Call in Anita and Brenda just to be on the safe side in case I get held up." With those parting instructions, Huggy left the bar.

Twenty minutes later, he was talking to another business owner who owned a small deli a few blocks away from The Pits. Huggy had sent Dylan to see him because he knew the man was looking for someone to help stock shelves in the afternoons.

"Yeah, I remember the kid." The deli man said "But, he told me he was from Ohio not Nebraska. He seemed like a good kid and I told him he could come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help me stock the shelves. He came in for two days and then just never came back."

"Did he say anything else?" Huggy asked "Did he tell you where he was staying?"

"No…and I didn't ask. But last day he was here there was a guy waiting for him out front when he left."

"What did the other guy look like?" Huggy demanded hoping that this might be a lead he could use.

"He was probably in his mid to late thirties. Long black hair that he had tied back in a pony tail. Kinda shifty looking. They got into an old black van and that's the last I saw of the kid."

Huggy frowned. The description of the black van seemed to further connect Dylan to Starsky and Hutch's abduction. The description of the older man was too vague to be of much use. It could fit half the men in the city. Huggy thanked the other business owner for his help and left the deli.

Huggy remembered that Dylan had said something about staying at a shelter for runaways when he first came to the city. Since there was a shelter not far away that often housed runaways without asking any questions, Huggy decided to check it out to see if it was the one Dylan had stayed at.

The shelter was housed in a rundown building that had once been a flourishing hotel. The building was four stories high but only the first two floors were still in use by the shelter. The upper floors had been sealed off after being declared unsafe by the city following a moderately severe earthquake in 1964.

Huggy entered the building through a side door and found himself in a combination lobby/reception area with several cheap leather chairs sitting along one wall along with a more comfortable looking sofa. A middle aged man wearing a clergyman's collar sat behind a desk writing in a file that was lying open in front of him.

"Hello," the clergyman said with a welcoming smile as he stood up and held out his hand to Huggy. "I'm Jim Riverton. May I help you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me if you had a kid named Dylan staying here a couple of months ago. He was a runaway…he may have been from Nebraska or Ohio. He's probably sixteen or seventeen with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Kinda skinny and about your height."

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you that. We promise the kids that come to us confidentiality. They trust us not to turn them in to the authorities."

"I can dig that…but this kid may be involved in the abduction of a couple of friends of mine…two detectives."

"Are you talking about Starsky and Hutchinson?"

"Yeah. How did you know?" Huggy asked suspiciously.

"It's all over the street that they disappeared. I met them a few months ago when we had a break in here and they were the officers that investigated it." The clergyman frowned and then seemed to come to a decision. "I wouldn't normally do this but since it does involve the disappearance of two police officers, I'll help you." He turned to a filing cabinet behind him and opened a bottom drawer flipping though the files inside until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a thin folder and opened it glancing over the single sheet of paper inside.

"A boy matching that description and using the name Dylan Allen did stay here from June 22nd to June 25th. I don't know where he went after that. He claimed to have run away from a small town somewhere in Ohio because of an abusive step father. He gave his age at the time as sixteen but I think that he may have been younger than that." He shut the folder and looked at Huggy solemnly. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful but that's all the information I have on him. He wasn't really here long enough for anyone to get to know him."

"Thank you. It's start." Huggy said with a firm shake of the other man's hand. He would pass the information on to Captain Dobey so it could be added to the ABP that had been put out on Dylan along with the description of the bike he had been riding that day. It wasn't much to go on but it was still more than Huggy had started out with. Huggy intended to keep digging and see if he could find out more information about the elusive teenager.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Starsky was still groggy and disoriented from whatever he had been given by the woman in white. He didn't seem to notice, or care, as two female members of the cult cut off his clothes. He struggled weakly when two of the male members grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet. When he was lifted into the large wooden vat sitting in a darkened corner of the cavern and lowered into the water, Starsky became more alert and began to fight in earnest. Since he was weakened from his earlier beating and under the influence of the drugs, it didn't take much effort to subdue him and force his head underneath the surface of the water.

"STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Hutch screamed from his position across the cavern. "YOU'LL DROWN HIM!" He frantically pulled at the shackles that held him prisoner even though he knew it was useless. But, he couldn't watch helplessly while they tortured Starsky and not try to intervene.

A female member of the cult with short spiky red hair and a pieced lip walked over to where Hutch struggled at the end of his bonds and slapped him across the cheek with enough force to whip Hutch's head to the side.

"Be quiet!" She hissed at him. "You must not interfere with the ceremony! If you open your mouth again, you will be silenced!"

"Fuck you, bitch!" Hutch snarled his temper flaring and the words slipping off his tongue without thinking.

With a thin smile, the woman pulled off the heavy cloth slash she wore around her waist and used it to gag Hutch despite his best efforts to avoid her attempt to silence him. In frustration, he yelled into the material covering his mouth but his words came out garbled and muffled. Outraged at being forcibly silenced, Hutch kicked out with his legs which only made his body swing from the shackles around his wrists and put an enormous amount of strain on his shoulders. He stopped struggling and let his body go limp when the strain threatened to further injure his dislocated shoulder.

Tears gathered in his eyes as he raised his head in time to see two men lift Starsky's limp body out of the vat of water. They supported his weight between them while one of the women dressed Starsky in one of the hated black robes with the inverted red cross. When she had finished, the two men let Starsky's body fall to the ground in a crumbled heap. One of the men tied Starsky's hands and feet together to keep him from escaping when he regained consciousness.

With ceremony apparently over for now the cult members began to drift out of the cavern leaving behind the woman with the black hair that given Hutch a drink of water earlier. Unlike the rest of the cult members, she was still dressed in the flowing white gown instead of one of the despised black robes. She walked over to Hutch and gently removed the sash from around his mouth.

"You must learn not to interfere during the ceremonies." She scolded him. "The next time Sarah may do more than just gag you. She likes to hurt men…a lot."

"Why are you doing this? Marcus is dead…and you'll all go to jail when they find you."

Hutch said trying to reach the young woman and convince her to help them before it was too late.

"The master's body may be dead but his spirit is still with us. He's told Joshua what must be done to resurrect him." The woman replied her eyes shining with the conviction of her beliefs.

"Resurrect him?" Hutch repeated in a stunned voice. "That's crazy…you must realize that! You can't resurrect him!"

"Oh, but we can…now that we have you and Polaris both." The woman smiled brightly. "Polaris is the vessel…he will provide the body for the master's resurrection and you will be the sacrifice to appease the creator for returning the master to us."

"You're crazy…" Hutch said in a disbelieving voice. Surely, she couldn't be serious. It was obvious that she would be no help to the two men. "You're all crazy!"

"You will understand in time…" The woman said as she turned and walked away. She disappeared down the passageway. At least this time they had left the candles lit so there was some light in the darkness that still lingered in the deepest recesses of the cavern.

"Jesus…they're even crazier than before…" Hutch muttered to himself as the woman's words echoed in his mind.

A soft moan immediately demanded Hutch's attention. "Starsky? Is that you, babe?" he called out to his friend. "Are you awake?"

Another moan, a bit louder this time, echoed in the cavern. Hutch strained to locate Starsky's crumbled body in the semi-darkness of the cave.

"Starsky?" Hutch said a little louder and more insistently this time. "Come on, Gordo…talk to me."

"Hushhhhh…" Starsky voice said weakly. He was obviously still disoriented and groggy but he recognized Hutch's voice.

"Come on, pal…stay with me." Hutch told him in an encouraging voice. "Are you okay?"

"You…hurt…" Starsky said in a barely audible voice.

Hutch smiled bitterly. Leave it to Starsky to worry about Hutch instead of himself even at a time like this. The smile faded from his lips when the memory of Starsky asking the same question when he finally awoke from his coma after the shooting in the garage slipped into Hutch's mind.

"I'm fine, buddy," Hutch reassured him. "How about you? Are you hurt?"

"Hurts…" Starsky said his voice stronger but still sounding a bit disoriented.

"I know, buddy…they worked you over pretty good when they invited us to join their little party." Hutch told him.

"It's Marcus again…isn't it?" Starsky asked a hint of panic sounding in his voice. "His goons grabbed us, didn't they?" The clarity of his question indicated that Starsky was awake now and fairly alert.

"Yeah…they did." Hutch admitted ruefully.

"Oh, God…" Starsky whimpered, the hint of fear that Hutch could hear in his voice tearing at Hutch's heart. "Not again…"

"Hey, Dobey and Huggy probably have the whole city looking for us by now." Hutch said trying to reassure his partner.

"How are they gonna find us…if they don't know where to begin looking?" Starsky said in a reasonable voice. "You know as well as I do that these lunatics aren't going to be running around out in the open where somebody might see them."

"Hey, come on…we've made it out of worst messes than this." Hutch said

"Yeah, right…" Starsky mumbled as his voice started to weaken again. He coughed violently for several long seconds. "I hope you got a plan, Blondie, because I don't think I'm gonna be much help."

"You just rest…I'll come up with something." Hutch told him. He knew that Starsky still wasn't thinking clearly or he would have been demanding that Hutch get his ass over there and untie him. There was no point telling Starsky that the shackles around Hutch's wrists that kept him from protecting for his injured partner.

Hutch was concerned that Starsky was injured more then he was willing to admit to his partner. He had taken a brutal beating and had been half drowned. Hutch knew that Starsky had a high pain threshold but after the shooting, the doctors had warned them both that his body couldn't survive another severe trauma without permanent, disabling damage if not death.

Hutch squirmed uncomfortably unable to find a truly comfortable position because of his restraints and dislocated shoulder. Both arms and shoulders were numb now and he could no longer feel his hands. Occasionally, his knees would buckle from the strain and he would slump forward putting additional strain on his upper extremities. He was also getting severely chaffed between his legs. Unable to relieve himself normally he had been forced to urinate in his jeans and the acidic ammonia was irritating his skin. And from the increasingly severe cramps in his gut it wouldn't be long before he would be forced to endure an even more humiliating indignity.

Starsky moaned softly several times but didn't respond to the sound of Hutch's voice. Hutch sighed in frustration. It was probably just as well. Starsky needed all of his strength to face whatever lay ahead. Hutch found himself thinking about the grueling months after Starsky's first abduction by the original cult. He had been severely traumatized by the ordeal he had gone through even though it had only lasted for twenty-four hours.

Nightmares had kept Starsky from sleeping at night until Hutch finally started spending the night at his apartment. It was weeks before Hutch managed to piece together all the things they had done to Starsky in a relatively short period of time. Sleep deprivation and drugs combined with physical, verbal, emotional and mental abuse that had kept Starsky in a constant state of terror. Hutch's dramatic last second rescue had came just as the cult was preparing to kill Starsky using a variety of weapons including a meat cleaver, a heavy chain, an axe, and several large butcher knifes. Even after his rescue, Starsky was too badly shaken to do more than to cling desperately to Hutch.

Now, six years later, Starsky was being forced to relive that nightmare and this time, Hutch was a reluctant witness to his abuse first hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

**A/N: Be advised that there is some graphic and violent content in this chapter. You have been warned.**

Hutch tensed as he heard the sound of the familiar chanting coming down the passageway towards the cavern. Starsky had been quiet for several hours despite Hutch's best efforts to get him to respond to the sound of his voice. Hutch was severely weakened from the lack of food and very little water since their abduction. And he was still relatively healthy compared to the abuse Starsky had already endured.

The cult members filed into the cave and formed a semi-circle around the two detectives, standing with their heads bowed and continuing that insistent repetitive chanting.The man that Hutch was now able to identify as Joshua stood over Starsky's limp body and spread out his hands as if in a bizarre blessing. In a loud voice, he said,

"Behold the vessel that will bring the master back to us! Through blood atonement he shall be prepared for the final ritual in three days time when the moon is full." He held out his hand and the woman in white joined him. "At the stroke of midnight, he shall join with the Virgin Mary Anne and a son shall be born who will serve the dark master as his obedient disciple."

The chanting increased in volume as the cult members became excited by Joshua's words. Two male disciples stepped forward and reached down to drag Starsky to his feet. Starsky moaned and Hutch watched as the brunet's eyes fluttered open. The sapphire pupils filled with fear as alertness returned and Starsky realized what was going on around him. Instinctively, he began to struggle with the men holding him upright but his struggles were futile. He was too weak to break their grip on his arms.

"LET HIM GO, YOU BASTARD!" Hutch yelled angrily hoping to draw attention to himself and away from his terrified partner. Hutch knew that he was also a vital part of their final ritual so he doubted if they would kill him before that ceremony but that didn't mean they wouldn't hurt him for his insolence. That didn't matter to Hutch not as long as it prevented them from hurting Starsky.

Joshua turned to face Hutch with a tolerant smile and said in a mocking tone,

"You can not save him anymore than you can save yourself. You are the chosen ones and Simon's dream has revealed your destiny. He has told us that the White Knight will try to distract us and save the black angel but the faithful will not be swayed by your words."

With a barely noticeable nod from Joshua two men stepped out of the semi-circle and approached Hutch who tensed his muscles fully expecting to be beaten. He was surprised when one of the men unshackled his wrists instead. Hutch cried out in pain as his numbed arms fell to his side and his knees began to buckle. The two men immediately grabbed Hutch under his arms and drug him across the cavern to where the other men still held an exhausted Starsky upright.

The two men forced Hutch to his knees in front of Joshua and Starsky. Hutch knelt there with his head bowed low, his chin resting against his chest as he struggled to control his breathing. He tried to ignore the agony that flared in his arms and shoulders from being restrained in one position for so long.

In a deceptively calm voice, Joshua said, "You will bow to the master and his disciples…and as your atonement for attempting to sway us from our Master's commands…you will watch as we anoint Polaris as the Master's chosen one…after he is suitably punished for your arrogance."

"Nooooo…" Hutch screamed jerking his head up to glare at Joshua with a menacing glare in his ice blue eyes. He began to struggle with his own captors without any success. He was too weak and they were too strong.

"Silence him!" Joshua ordered sharply.

He stepped back and watched as one of the men slammed his knee into Hutch's back between his shoulder blades. The blond gasped in pain and started to topple forward only to be grabbed and pulled back on his haunches. He cried out in pain as his arms were forced behind his back and tied securely with a rope that was looped around his arms just above the elbow and then tied around his wrists. The remaining length of rope was used to tie his ankles together effectively forcing hutch to remain in his kneeling position. A ball gag similar to the type of sex toy used in S/M games was forced into his mouth to silence him and the straps were buckled securely behind his head.

Hutch raised his head when they were finished and found his partner's frightened eyes. He tried to convey as much encouragement and support as he could with his eyes relying on their unique form of silent communication now more than he had ever had before. Starsky looked back with a resigned expressive in his eyes that told Hutch that Starsky had accepted whatever fate held in store for him over the next few hours.

The two men holding Starsky pulled him over to a stone formation nearby that formed a natural pedestal. They forced Starsky to bend over the stone dais and fastened his wrists to a pair of metal shackles fastened into the base of the stone. Starsky had to spread his knees to balance his weight and to ease the pressure on his lungs from the stone pressing against his chest. In his restrained position, Starsky yelped in fear when a black cloth bag was pulled over his head and fastened around his neck with a leather strap. Hutch could see the cloth billowing in and out as Starsky's breathing escalated along with his fear.

Hutch flinched as he watched one of the men pull the bottom of the long robe up over Starsky's hips exposing his nude backside. Hutch's heart began to pound with anxiety when a third man stepped forward. In his hand he held a thin flexible cane that whistled softly as the man flexed his wrist and snapped the cane in the air. Without any advance warning, he suddenly brought the cane down across Starsky's exposed buttocks with the full weight of his arm behind the blow. A vivid red welt immediately appeared on Starsky's bared skin even as Starsky's cry of pain echoed in Hutch's heart.

The blows fell rapidly not allowing Starsky any time to recover between each strike. Hutch lost count of the number of blows that fell as he watched his partner's body writhe and twitch in pain. Long, drawn out screams were torn from Starsky's throat as the vicious beating continued.

Finally the beating stopped. Starsky's body was slumped over the rock formation, his muscles trembling and his skin covered with a thin sheen of sweat. His buttocks, lower back and the back of his thighs were covered with bloody welts where the skin had been broken. Hutch could see Starsky's chest heaving with each breath he took. With the bag over his head, Hutch couldn't tell if Starsky was awake or if he was unconscious. For the brunet's sake Hutch hoped that Starsky had passed out. Hutch closed his eyes momentarily to block out the horror in front of him, choking back a sob past the rubber ball gag that filled his mouth. He could feel his partner's pain as if it were his own. A single tear slipped down his cheek as he sent a silent prayer to a God he had stopped believing in years ago to help him and his partner.

Hutch opened his eyes in time to see two men unshackle Starsky's wrists and pull him to his feet, letting the black robe fall back into place as Starsky was forced upright. Starsky's knees buckled and he would have fallen if the two men hadn't been supporting his weight. When one of the men unfastened the leather strap around Starsky's neck and pulled the bag off of his head, there was a glazed look in Starsky's eyes and he was barely conscious.

The men drug Starsky over to where Joshua stood with a pleased smile on his face. When Starsky stood in front of him, Joshua reached out with both hands and grabbed Starsky's ass pulling Starsky's groin against his own and thrusting his hips obscenely. Starsky's scream of pain echoed in the air and in Hutch's heart as Starsky fell forward against Joshua as he mercifully lost consciousness.

Joshua smirked as he shoved Starsky's limp body away from him and said, "Hang him on the cross."

Hutch's eyes widened in alarm as the two men drug Starsky to a darkened corner of the cavern. As the other cult members moved closer to that part of the cave, Hutch saw the wooden cross that was standing upright against the wall of the cavern. Two other male cult members stepped forward to help support Starsky's unconscious body as the brunet was lifted high enough to tie his arms and wrists to the wooden cross beam. A second rope was wrapped securely around Starsky's chest and waist to hold him upright on the cross while a third rope was looped tightly around his ankles. Hutch knew that the image of his partner hanging there would forever be branded into his mind.

Joshua turned his attention to Hutch. "Let him join Polaris at the foot of the cross."

The two men standing behind Hutch pulled him roughly across the dirt floor of the cave and dropped him to the ground below Starsky's body. They didn't bother to remove his restraints leaving Hutch in an awkward and painful position.

The chanting stopped when Joshua raised his hand for silence. Addressing the congregation, he said,

"The women will return to the shelter and prepare food while the men prepare the anointment chamber." Joshua clapped his hands and the cult members slowly filtered out of the cave. Joshua and the woman he had called Mary Anne were the last to leave. They blew out the candles once more plunging the cave into darkness. The darkness seemed even more obsessive than ever to Hutch as he lay there helplessly listening to his best friend's ragged breathing above him.

Hutch was startled when Starsky's weak, shaky voice said his name in the darkness.

"I'm right here, Buddy." Hutch said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. "How ya doing?"

"Besides feeling like somebody ripped all the hide off my ass…I'm terrific…" Starsky muttered.

"Yeah, right…sure you are." Hutch snorted. "I'm serious, pal…how bad are you hurt?"

"I'll live." Starsky said evasively refusing to answer Hutch directly which indirectly answered Hutch's question. Starsky was hurt worse then he was willing to admit to Hutch. "Where the hell are you? I can hear you but I can't see a damn thing…"

"I'm on the ground underneath you." Hutch told him.

"What the hell am I tied to anyway?" Starsky asked his voice sounding agitated and annoyed.

"Believe me, buddy…you don't wanna know."

"That bad, huh?" Starsky muttered "That's okay…I think I can fill in the blanks." He was silent for several seconds and then he said, "We're not gonna make this time, are we?"

"Hey, don't go giving up on me yet," Hutch scolded him gently. "As long as we're still alive there's always a chance."

Starsky's sigh sounded loud in the darkness. In a defeated voice, he said, "I may have been out of it most of the time but I still heard some of what they were saying. I know what they got planned for us…some of it anyway…"

"I'm sorry, Starsk…" Hutch said momentarily letting his own fear take control of his ragged emotions. "We should never have trusted that kid…"

"Hey, it's not his fault…those freaks are all brainwashed…you know that." Starsky paused to take a deep ragged breath. "Have you seen him? Is he one of them?"

"I don't know. You can't see their faces with those damn hoods on."

"How long have we been here anyway?" Starsky asked, his voice faltering with exhaustion and pain.

"I'm not sure…two or three days I think. It's hard to tell inside this fucking cave…"

"What is it with these freaks and caves?" Starsky muttered "Why can't they find some place more comfortable to torture their victims?"

"I think that's the point…I don't think we're supposed to be comfortable." Hutch said taking comfort in their familiar back and forth bantering. "Besides I think they might attract too much attention if they checked into a motel to carry out their little rituals, don't you?"

"I can think of a few places on our beat where nobody would notice anything out of the ordinary if they did." Starsky snorted in response.

Both men fell silent as they tried to conserve what little energy they had left. They had a feeling they were going to need it for whatever lay in store for them next.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Dylan lurked in the shadows and listened as Joshua talked with Noah and Adam about the ceremony planned for later that evening. The teenager had been disturbed by the violence he had witnessed earlier when Noah had used the cane to beat the dark haired cop. Dylan had been so excited when Joshua told him that he was finally going to be allowed to participate in one of the group's private ceremonies. But, now he was beginning to have second thoughts about the cult's activities. Were the rumors he had heard true about all the people they had murdered and mutilated under the leadership of Simon Marcus?

When Dylan first arrived in Bay City after running away from his home back in Dayton, Ohio it hadn't taken long for Norah to spot him and introduce him to Joshua and the others. They had taken him in and made him feel as if he finally belonged somewhere. Emotionally starved for attention it had been easy to believe that they actually cared about him.

When Joshua had asked him to help set up two Bay City cops so the group could grab them and use them in one of their ceremonies Dylan had gone along with the plan willingly. It had made him feel special to be singled out and given such an important task to carry out. It had been so easy to lure the cops into the alley where Joshua and the others were waiting for them. So what if Andrew and Noah got a little rough with them? They weren't really hurt that bad.

But, Dylan had reservations as he watched the violence against the brunet cop escalate rapidly while the blond cop was forced to watch. And what was all the talk about the one they kept calling Polaris being the 'vessel' to 'resurrect' the Master? Marcus was dead and Dylan knew that you couldn't bring someone who was dead back to life. For the first time since he had been recruited into the cult, Dylan began to fear what they were capable of doing.

Dylan found himself thinking about another teenager, a pretty girl named Sabrina, who had questioned Joshua about the activities of the cult. One day she had simply disappeared and nobody seemed to know where she had gone. As he thought back over the past few months since he had been associated with the cult Dylan realized there had been some other unexplained disappearances. He hadn't wanted to be the next one to disappear so he had kept his mouth shut and hadn't questioned Joshua's orders. Until now.

"What are you doing here?" A harsh voice said behind Dylan, startling him badly. The teenager turned to look at another cult member named Samuel who was glaring at him.

"Nothing." Dylan said respectfully, lowering his eyes as he had been instructed to do when in the presence of any older cult member. "I was waiting to see if Joshua needed anything before I went to take care of the animals."

Samuel frowned and continued to glare Dylan as if trying to decide if he believed him or not. Finally, he said brashly, "Joshua knows how to find you if he needs you. Go do your chores."

Dylan nodded and hurried away. Samuel watched the teenager disappear through a side door and decided that it would be in his best interest to tell Joshua that he had caught Dylan lurking around eavesdropping on Joshua's plans for the two detectives. They were too close to achieving their goals to have everything spoiled by a nosy teenager who didn't know how to mind his own business.

Ten minutes later Joshua came out of the back room where he had been discussing their plans for that evening with Noah, Abraham, and Nathanial. Samuel bowed his head respectfully and said, "I have some news about one of the younger followers…the boy called Dylan."

"What news?" Joshua asked with interest.

"I found him standing here in the shadows. He said he was waiting to see if you needed anything from him but I think he was listening to you and the others talking about tonight, Master."

"Really? Where is he now?"

"I sent him to the barn to do his chores."

"Good." Joshua said with a satisfied nod at Samuel's reply. "It may not be a bad idea to keep an eye on our young friend…make sure he doesn't get too curious." He glanced back at Noah and Abraham. "Make sure to double the guards around the perimeter. No one is to leave the compound with my permission until after the full moon."

"Yes, Master." They echoed as they hurried from the building to carry out Joshua's orders.

Joshua looked back at Samuel. "I think since our young friend is so curious about our plans then he should be more involved in our preparations for the final ceremony. He'll be a more active participant tonight when we do the blood ritual. In the meantime, keep a close eye on him. Do not let him out of your sight."

Samuel nodded at his instructions and hurried to carry them out. Joshua smiled thinly as he was left alone. Dylan had been useful but that usefulness was over with now. It was time for the boy to meet with a tragic accident after the final ceremony was carried out. Joshua headed for another part of the building to choose one of the females to take to his bed until it was time for the ceremony to begin.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Elvira had been a hooker since she was eleven. It was the only way of life she knew. She had been given her street name because of her obsession with the late night horror show hostess. Like her idol, she wore her silky black hair long and straight and dressed in a revealing black gown that was slit up one side almost to her waist and barely concealed her more than ample cleavage.

She very seldom ventured out of her tiny one bedroom apartment during the day but this morning she was on a mission. To avoid drawing too much attention to herself she had forgone her usual attire in favor of a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail and the heavy makeup washed off her face, she looked more like the seventeen year old that she really was.

She had to change buses twice before she finally reached the downtown area. Even though it was barely nine in the morning the sidewalks were already crowded with early morning shoppers, business owners opening up their shops, and kids skipping school. The door to _The Pits_ was securely locked since it didn't open until eleven just in time for the lunch crowd but Elvira knew that Huggy Bear lived in one of the apartments on the second floor of the building.

Elvira hesitated when she finally reached her destination. Glancing around to make sure she wasn't being watched, she darted into the alley and through a doorway that opened into the rear stairway that led to the upstairs apartments. A second door at the top of the stairway was locked barring her entrance to the interior of the building. With a fierce determination gleaming in her dark brown eyes, she raised her fist and pounded on the locked door as loudly as she could.

She continued knocking loudly until a sleepy, irritated voice yelled from inside the building, "Stop that damn pounding! I'm not deaf!"

Elvira heard the sound of a lock being unfastened from the other side of the door and then it opened to reveal a very pissed off looking Huggy Bear standing in the hallway.

"This better be fucking important, girl." He growled "Cause I just got to bed two hours ago."

"I'm sorry," Elvira said, unnerved by Huggy's apparent anger at being disturbed.

"I shouldn't have come…it was a mistake."

Before she could make her retreat, Huggy reached out and grabbed her arm. "You ain't going no place until you tell me what was so important that you had to drag the Bear's ass out of bed at this time of the morning."

"A friend of mine told me that you were looking for information about two cops that got snatched." She said hesitantly. "She said you might be willing to pay me if I told you what I heard."

"Get in here, girl." Huggy said as he tugged her into the hallway and shut the door, turning the latch to lock it. Keeping a tight grasp on her arm, he led her through a doorway on the right and into a spacious apartment that was decorated in bold colors and modestly furnished. Sitting her down on the black leather sofa, he walked over to the door that opened into his bedroom and shut the door firmly.

Turning back to his unexpected visitor, Huggy crossed his arms across his chest and said,

"Okay. Talk. Tell me what you heard."

"How much is worth to you?" Elvira asked some of her confidence returning at the prospect of getting paid for her information.

"That depends on what you have to tell me." Huggy countered. He was wise enough to know not to offer her any money until he heard exactly what she had to say. "What's your name, girl?"

"Elvira." She replied with a defiant tilt of her chin.

"Sure it is." Huggy replied with a faint smile. "Who sent you to me, Elvira?"

"Orange." She replied, naming another hooker who dressed like the Orphan Annie character from the comic strip. She even had a dog that she called Sandy. Huggy nodded acknowledging the name. Orange might act a little strange but she was loyal when it came to her friends. If she had sent this girl to Huggy than Orange must think her information was worth listening to.

"Okay. So, why don't you tell me what you know?" Huggy suggested with a smile hoping to put the girl at ease.

"There's this guy…he's picked me up a couple of times," She said "He talked about that Marcus guy all the time and bragged about how he was one of his disciples…one of his chosen ones."

"Go on," Huggy said with interest.

"Anyway…the last time he picked me up…he got really stoned and he started telling me all about how him and the rest of these disciples were going to grab a couple of cops and make them pay for sending Marcus away. I didn't think too much about it…I figured he was just talking, ya know?"

"Yeah, I dig."

"So…I didn't see him for awhile…then about two weeks ago…he picked me up again. Only this time he had this kid with him and he said that this kid was going to help them grab the cops and he wanted me to fuck the kid as a reward for helping them." Elvira looked at Huggy and shrugged her shoulders. "So I did. And that was the last time I saw him."

"Do you have a name?"

"He called himself Noah."

"What about the kid? Did you get name for him?"

"Dylan."

Huggy took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. There it was. A definite connection between Dylan and one of Simon's disciples. "Did this Noah ever tell you anything else?"

"No and I didn't ask. He scared me…" Elvira admitted. "He tried to talk me into going with him one time to this place where they live…but I told no way. I'm not that stupid. It's somewhere in the mountains clean out by Centerville."

"It's probably a good thing you didn't." Huggy told her, making note of the location she had named. He knew the area. It was almost forty miles from Bay City with some heavily wooded areas and secluded spots that would be the perfect location to carry out a little torture. "You could have ended up dead."

"That's all I know. When I told Orange about it…she told me that I should come see you. She said you were friends with the two cops that got snatched."

"I am." Huggy said. He walked over to a desk sitting in a corner and unlocked the top drawer. Taking out a wad of bills, he peeled off two fifties and handed them to Elvira. Her eyes widened in surprise and pleasure at the money that Huggy was willing to pay for her information. She didn't know that he would gladly have paid ten times that amount for the possible leads she had provided.

As Elvira stood up and prepared to leave, Huggy stopped her and said, "If you ever want to go straight and get out of the life…I'll help you in any way I can. Got it?"

Elvira nodded too surprised by his offer to speak. It was the first time since she could remember that someone actually talked as if they cared about her and her welfare. Huggy smiled and offered to escort her down to the street but Elvira declined.

Huggy unlocked the stairway door for Elvira and then returned to his apartment to grab a jacket. He left the building and drove to police headquarters to pass the information Elvira had given him along to Dobey.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Starsky's agitated mumbling aroused Hutch from his daze. Hutch groaned in pain from his cramped position at the foot of the cross. He knew that they both were starting to lose ground as their individual injuries took a toll on their stamina. Hutch's injured shoulder felt hot and swollen, the slightest movement sending crippling waves of agony down his arm. And Starsky's feverish sounding voice concerned Hutch with the possibility that an infection was setting into Starsky's wounds. Even though he recognized the futility of his actions, Hutch strained against the ropes that held him prisoner. Neither one of them was in any condition to fight off their assailants even if they were capable of attempting an escape.

Hutch tensed as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps in the distance. As they drew closer, he realized there was only small group of people approaching instead of the entire congregation. Hutch was hopeful that meant that he and Starsky had a reprieve from any further abuse at least for a little longer.

From his position on the ground, Hutch looked up as Joshua, the man who had beaten Starsky with the cane, an older man that Hutch didn't recognize, and the teenager, Dylan, entered the cavern. Without a word passing between them, the two men whose names Hutch did not know, began to untie Starsky from the cross. Hutch cringed when he heard Starsky whimper in pain as he was released from the ropes that bound him. Carelessly, the two men let Starsky fall to the ground beside Hutch.

"Hey! Watch it!" Hutch growled in anger when Starsky cried out in pain at the rough treatment. "Can't you see that he's hurt?"

"That hardly makes a difference now, does it?" Joshua said with a smirk. "I promise you…his suffering won't last much longer…and neither will yours."

"You sick fuck!" Hutch snarled in his hardest street voice, the one that was guaranteed to send a chill of fear down the spine of even the worst offenders. "Even if you kill us…the department will track you down and you'll all end up on death row just like Marcus!"

Joshua ignored Hutch and nodded to the other two men. As they picked Starsky up and began to carry him out of the cave, Hutch struggled against his ropes despite the pain it caused him.

"Where are you taking him? What are you going to do to him?" Hutch demanded raggedly as he struggled to keep his emotions in check as his concern for his partner soared.

"You need not be concerned." Joshua said coldly. "It is not time yet for the final ceremony to begin."

"Please…" Hutch pleaded as the three men and the teenager started to walk away with the two men carrying Starsky's limp body between them. "Don't hurt him any more…" Hutch didn't care how he sounded. When it came to Starsky's welfare and safety Hutch was willing to throw his own pride aside if it meant protecting his partner. But, despite his heartfelt appeal they left the cavern with Starsky.

Hutch let his head fall to the ground as tears began running down his face. Once again he had failed his partner when Starsky needed him the most. Despite Starsky's repeated reassurances to the contrary, Hutch still held himself responsible for not being able to prevent his partner from being shot that day in the police parking garage. One of Hutch's biggest faults was his capacity for assuming the guilt whenever anything bad happened to Starsky. A perfectionist by nature, Hutch viewed it as a personal failure when he couldn't prevent Starsky from being hurt, physically or emotionally.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

As the two men carried Starsky deep into the woods surrounding the compound, Dylan looked at Joshua with a puzzled frown.

"What are they going to do to him?" He asked in worried voice.

"We're not going to do anything to him." Joshua told him. "We're simply separating them until the ceremony is ready to begin. You'll stay with this one until we return for you."

"Oh…okay…" Dylan said doubtfully. He was afraid to question the reasoning for separating the two cops until the ceremony began. He sensed that it would be in his own best interest not to examine Joshua's motives too closely. He dutiful followed the older men to a sunlit clearing where the two men carrying Starsky laid him down on the ground underneath a tall oak tree. They had not bothered to restrain the brunet. It was obvious that Starsky posed no threat in his present condition.

Joshua removed a small cloth bag from underneath his robe and tossed it to Dylan who caught it with one hand. Having helped to pack similar bags in the short time he had been with the cult, Dylan knew that it contained a bottle of water, a sandwich and a few saltine crackers.

"We'll be back in a few hours." Joshua told Dylan and the three men turned and disappeared into the trees leaving the teenager alone with the injured and semi-conscious Starsky.

Unknown to Dylan, another cult member, a young woman named Abigail, was hidden nearby. Her instructions were to watch Dylan and see how he interacted with Starsky during the time the teenager believed that they were alone. If Dylan showed any indication of doing more than just watching over Starsky, if he showed any compassion or sympathy towards the injured man, then Abigail would report her observations to Joshua who would decide Dylan's ultimate fate for betraying their cause.

Dylan sighed softly as he settled down beside Starsky who lay on the ground, curled up in a fetal position with his eyes closed. The curly haired cop's breathing sounded labored in the heavy silence that seemed to surround them and his skin looked awfully pale to Dylan.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." Dylan whispered more for his own benefit that any attempt to comfort Starsky. "I didn't know they were going to do anything like this…" He choked back a sob suddenly overwhelmed by fear. Fear for himself and fear for the man lying on the ground beside him. But, he didn't know how to make things right. How to stop the chain of events that had been set into motion when he agreed to his part in Joshua's plan to abduct the two cops.

Starsky moaned and began coughing violently. Dylan watched helplessly as the brunet struggled to catch his breath, gasping at some degree of pain that only he could feel. Dylan wanted to reach out and comfort him, soothe his pain somehow, but he was too frightened to disobey Joshua's commands. So he sat there in silence and tried to ignore the man's obvious anguish.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Back in the cave, Hutch was going out of his mind with worry about his partner. Horrific images flooded his mind as he pictured the different atrocities that he knew from experience the cult members were capable of.

"Starskyyyyyyy…" he screamed in despair the sound of his own voice bouncing back at hiim off the walls of the cave. Their years together had forged the bond so deeply between the two men that Hutch no longer knew how to live without Starsky by his side. A part of him had died when he thought that he had lost Starsky that terrible day in May six years ago only to be miraculously reborn when Starsky defied the odds against him and survived the attack.

Hutch sensed another presence in the cave with him. Turning his head, he watched as one of the female disciples approached him. She was dressed in a long flowing blue gown which seemed to be the typical attire that the women wore when they weren't wearing the black robes. Long chestnut colored hair hung loose around her slender shoulders and she moved with a fluid grace.

As she knelt beside Hutch's restrained body he noticed that she was carrying a small metal basin in her hands. Sitting the basin on the ground beside his head she picked up a washcloth and wrung out the excess moisture. She used it to gently bath Hutch's tear stained face.

"Please…" Hutch begged her. "Tell me where my partner is…"

The woman looked at him with sad blue eyes and said quietly,

"He was not as strong as Simon dreamed he was. I'm afraid he didn't survive the final test before the atonement ceremony."

"Nooooooo…." Hutch cried out in disbelief as he felt his heart being shredded into pieces. He felt the darkness swirling around him as he fell into the comforting embrace of oblivion.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I have to replace the power cord on my laptop so until I do I will not be able to access this story to post any additional chapters. Hopefully, it will not be long. I apologize in advance for the delay. **

**CHAPTER 9**

Huggy paced the floor in Dobey's office his agitation showing clearly in the rigid set of his shoulders. He was frustrated and outraged at the red tape involved when the department needed to follow up on an investigation outside of their own jurisdiction. Although Huggy had uncovered a possible location for the cult's hideout it could still take days, maybe even weeks, to search the area especially when so much of the surrounding terrain could only be reached after a lengthy hike into the wilderness.

Dobey's mood wasn't much better. He had immediately called the local police department in Centerville when Huggy told him about his conversation with Elivra only to be told that someone would have to call him back because nobody was there who could take his call.

"We identified the kid." Dobey said as he opened his lower desk drawer and took out a bottle of aspirin. He popped the lid and shook two of the white tablets out into the palm of his hand. He tossed them in his mouth washing them down with a swallow of lukewarm coffee. "His name's Dylan Micheals and he's from Dayton, Ohio. He was reported missing last year by his mother. He's sixteen years old."

"What about Noah?" Huggy asked gruffly.

"We identified him too. He's a convicted felon by the name of Jimmy Frame. He has an extensive criminal record both as an adult and as a juvenile. He's been arrested for everything from petty theft and shoplifting to attempted murder. His last arrest was for rape. His victim was a nine year old girl."

"Damn," Huggy muttered darkly. He had no tolerance or sympathy for any man who abused or raped a child. "Just the kind of convert that Marcus looks for…"

"We think he's been associated with the cult for the last three years. He has a number of outstanding warrants including one for shooting at a police officer who tried to arrest him four years ago."

Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone on Dobey's desk. The burly black man grabbed the receiver and barked a brusque hello. From the one sided conversation he heard Huggy assumed that the caller was the police department in Centerville. Dobey scribbled notes on a pad laying on his desk as he spoke in short, terse sentences to the caller. Finally, Dobey hung up the phone with a heavy sigh. He took a white hanky out of his jacket pocket and wiped at his heavily perspiring face.

"I think we may be on the right track." Dobey told Huggy as he stuffed the hanky back into his pocket. "The local Police Chief told me that there have been numerous reports from local farmers about the mysterious deaths of some of their livestock. Mostly bulls and goats that have either disappeared entirely or have been found with their throats slit and most of the blood drained from their bodies.

A couple of weeks ago they had a couple of local teenagers disappear. Since the missing teens were a couple the police simply assumed that they had ran away together…until they found the girl four days ago…beaten, raped and mutilated with her throat slit from ear to ear."

"Sounds like Simon's bunch that's for sure." Huggy said solemnly. He paused his restless pacing and looked at Dobey for answers. "So what now, Chief?"

"I'm going to ask for some volunteers and we're going to go to Centerville tomorrow. We'll work with the local police and start searching the area. Maybe we'll even get lucky."

"I'm going with you." Huggy said firmly, the tone of his voice making it clear that he was going with or without Dobey's approval.

Dobey's expression didn't change but he was not surprised by Huggy's statement. He knew that Huggy was a good friend to his best team of detectives and had expected him to insist on joining in the search. "We're pulling out at seven o'clock in the morning." Dobey warned him.

"Don't worry. I'll be here." Huggy told him He turned on his heel and left the office. He needed to go to _The Pits _and leave instructions with his staff on running his business until he returned.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Hutch lay on the ground with his eyes open and staring into the darkness of the cave. He had withdrawn deep inside himself where the pain of losing his best friend couldn't touch him. Without Starsky, he had nothing. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest leaving behind an open wound that no doctor would ever be able to repair.

He heard the sound of approaching footsteps but continued staring into the darkness. He no longer cared what the cult did to him. He would welcome death with open arms and follow the devil to the pits of hell. That was where he belonged for failing in his duty to protect his partner. Starsky's blood was on his hands.

Hutch felt hands grabbing at him. Someone cut the ropes that bound his ankles and then his hands but he lay there without trying to fight. He was too weak from hunger and dehydration, wrapped in a mind numbing grief that left him immobilized. Hands pulled him to his feet supporting his weight as his knees buckled beneath him. Hutch let his head hang down, his chin touching his chest, as whoever held him drug him across the hard dirt floor. Whatever they had planned Hutch prayed that he wouldn't survive so that he would be free to spend eternity with Starsky.

The sudden glare of sunlight almost blinded him as he was drug from the cave. Hutch cried out softly and squeezed his eyes tightly shut against the unaccustomed brightness. Even the heat outside felt strange on his skin after the coolness in the interior of the cave. The fog that clouded Hutch's mind lifted momentarily allowing the pain from his battered body to wash over him but that pain was minor compared to the unbearable pain he felt in his heart.

The two men holding Hutch pulled him deep into the woods to a clearing where the rest of the cult had gathered. Their chanting filled the air, the same monotonous drone that Hutch heard in his nightmares: _Simon, Simon, Simon, Simon, Simon…_

Joshua stepped forward and grabbed a handful of flaxen hair and jerked Hutch's head upward, forcing the blond to look into his dark eyes that held no compassion, no empathy, and no soul. In a sinister voice, he said,

"You have been brought here to bare witness to the miracle of Simon…the power of our father. Behold heavenly Polaris in his final resting place…" Joshua stepped to one side just far enough for Hutch to see a mound of dirt that covered a freshly dug grave.

"Noooooo…" Hutch whimpered trying to bow his head to escape the gruesome images that flooded his mind. A strangled sob caught in his throat as he struggled weakly against the hands that still held him.

Joshua smiled thinly and leaned in close to whisper in Hutch's ear. "The master has brought the dark one back to life but there isn't much time…he's running out of air…"

The two men holding Hutch suddenly released him letting Hutch fall to his knees on the rough ground in front of the mound of overturned earth. Gasping for air past the lump that seemed to be lodged in his throat, Hutch began clawing frantically at the dirt. The chanting faded into the background as he dug with just one goal in mind to see his partner's face one last time.

Only a few inches beneath the surface Hutch's fingers scrapped against the lid of a rough wooden casket. Hutch's heart clenched in his chest and pounded wildly as he scrambled to uncover the lid enough to remove it. Finally, he was able to slip his fingertips underneath the edge of the crude lid and pull against it trying desperately to open it. His fingernails were torn to the quick but he didn't notice the pain or the streaks of blood that he left behind on the wood.

With one last tug, he finally managed to shift the lid aside far enough to see inside. His animal cry of pain was torn from his chest at the sight of Starsky's pale, battered face with the glassy blue eyes open and staring up at him. "Starskyyyyyyyy……"

Without a second thought Hutch reached down into the coffin and gathered his partner's limp body in his arms, pulling him partway out of the coffin and into an awkward embrace. Bitter tears of grief fell from his eyes and his body shook with sobs as Hutch buried his face against the cold skin of Starsky's neck.

"Enough!" Joshua said loudly. He nodded at two of his followers who immediately grabbed Hutch by the arms and began to pull him away from his precious burden. Fueled by his grief and a sudden burst of adrenaline Hutch found the strength to fight to remain where he was. His arms tightened around Starsky's body refusing to let go. Two more men stepped forward and it was only a matter of minutes before Hutch was overpowered and pulled roughly to his feet.

Joshua looked at Hutch with a smirk on his face and said, "You can not save him. He belongs to us now. His destiny has been fulfilled and Simon's dreams have come to pass…"


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

At seven-forty-five the following morning, two vans pulled out of the parking lot at police headquarters. Huggy Bear and Captain Dobey were in the lead van along with two female officers who had insisted on joining the search, Minnie Kaplin and Linda Baylor. Linda had worked with Starsky and Hutch on a couple of undercover cases while Minnie was the department's resident computer specialist. It had been her diligence that had identified both Dylan and Noah. The second van held six more police officers, all volunteers who were willing to take as much time as needed to find their two missing co-workers. Two of the officers, Brad Kellerman and Roy Weaver, worked in the canine unit and had brought their dogs, animals that had been specially trained for use in search and rescue missions.

Huggy had exchanged his normally colorful attire for a pair of jeans and a plain red shirt. Even Dobey was casually dressed in a pair of kaki pants and a button down plaid shirt. The other officers were also dressed in casual clothing and rugged boots. Most of them wore lightweight jackets to conceal their weapons. Each jacket was a bright blue with BCPD inscribed on the back in large white letters.

The plan was to use the local police department as a temporary headquarters and to coordinate the search from there. Four officers from the Centerville Police Department would be acting as guides to search the rugged terrain around the town. To cover as much ground as possible, they would be splitting into two groups. Each group would be accompanied by two of the guides and search different locations. The officers would keep closely in touch by walkie talkie. Brad would go with one group and Roy with the other to utilize the two search and rescue dogs. It had already been decided that Dobey, Huggy, and the two female officers would stick together. Brad would be joining their group once the search got underway.

Centerville was a sleepy little town that echoed an earlier time in California's history. The historical old buildings in the downtown area had been built at the turn of the century and were still in good repair. The grass in front of the local police department was freshly cut and landscaped with colorful flowers and neatly trimmed hedges. It stood across the street from the courthouse with the town square in between. The quiet serenity of the town was a striking contrast to the hustle and bustle of Bay City.

Chief Mayler greeted his contemporaries from Bay City cordially and introduced them to the four officers from his department that would assisting them. Steve Collier, Robert Markwell, Ed Dressler, and Fred Gardner. After pleasantries were exchanged, the group of men got down to business. Steve Collier and Robert Markwell were assigned to Dobey's group as their guides.

Mayler and his men listened intently as Dobey briefed them on Starsky and Hutch's disappearance and the probable involvement of Simon Marcus' remaining cult members. From their grim expressions, it was obvious that they had all heard of Simon Marcus and the atrocities that he and his band of followers had committed six years ago. For over a year half of southern California had been terrified wondering where the band of crazies would strike next.

"And you think they're holed up somewhere up there in the mountains?" Mayler drawled. "There's a lot of places up there they could be hiding…it could take weeks to find 'em." He glanced at his own men and said, "Steve, Ed…any of you got any idea where they might be?"

"I'd say they'd probably be somewhere around Devil's Peak…that's the most isolated spot on the mountain." Markwell spoke up.

"It's also the hardest place to get to unless your half mountain goat." Collier grumbled.

"Nobody goes up there," Dressler added. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then added, "They could have found one of the old mining trails and cleared it enough to get up there."

"It'd still be a rough trek to get up there." One of Mayler's other men spoke up. "What about the old Indian Caves on the other side of Devil's Peak? They got tunnels that go all through the mountain."

After a few minutes of intense discussion, it was decided that Dobey and his group would check out the Indian caves while the second group checked out Devil's Peak. The two locations were separated by approximately ten miles of rocky terrain with large parts of it assessable only by foot or on horseback.

Since none of them had any idea how many cult members they might encounter even if they found them, it was decided that if either group found anything suspicious they would alert the others and wait for their arrival before attempting any type of rescue. The group of officers and Huggy went back outside where they gathered around the two vehicles. Collier was elected to drive. As the men and two women piled into the van, Collier pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on, adjusting them so they sat comfortably on his nose. As he started the engine, he said,

"We'll drive as close as we can and then we'll have to go the rest of the way on foot."

"How far?" Dobey asked gruffly.

"About six to eight miles through some pretty rough terrain." Officer Markwell replied. He was a middle aged man with a deeply tanned and wrinkled weather beaten face. Washed out blue eyes stared out from beneath bushy gray eyebrows. Collier, on the other hand, was younger. In his late twenties, he was lean and muscular with the natural grace of an athlete. He was also deeply tanned with deep lines etched around the corner of his eyes and around his mouth.

Huggy leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs out in front of him and appearing to be disinterested in the casual conversation going on around him. In reality, every sense was on high alert, sizing up their two guides and observing his surroundings with a critical eye. Huggy and his friends from Bay City may be out of their element here in the mountains but Huggy depended on his street smarts to see him through.

Twenty minutes after leaving police headquarters, Collier pulled off the highway and parked the van. At Dobey's questioning look, he explained, "We could drive in further but it'll be easier to walk than to try and follow the poor excuses for roads that go up any further."

"But someone could drive in if they wanted to?" Linda Bayler asked

"Sure, if they had a sturdy vehicle and didn't mind a bumpy ride…not to mention a broken axle if they weren't careful. Like I told you…it's pretty rough territory up here."

Before starting out, each man (and woman) checked their supplies. Besides the weapons carried by all of the police officers, they each carried a bottle of water and a walkie talkie. Huggy was issued a backpack that carried some basic first aide items, 2 flashlights, matches, and some candy bars for quick energy.

"Stick close together and don't let each other out of your sight." Collier issued last minute instructions. "It's real easy to get lost up here if you don't know the area. And watch your step…we don't need anybody breaking an ankle."

"Do a lot of people come up here?" Minnie asked. Although she may not have the same amount of street experience as her co-workers, she had a sharp, analytical mind and a natural curiosity that made her an excellent cop.

"Not too much. Some of the townsfolk think the Indian Caves are haunted by the spirits of the tribe that used to live around here." Collier said with a smirk. "About the other ones brave enough to tackle the climb are some hunters during deer season. Otherwise, everybody tends to avoid this place."

"That would make it convenient for Marcus's followers." Rick Hunter, one of the officers from Bay City commented dryly. "A nice big mountain that most people tend to avoid."

"Complete with haunted Indian caves and a place called Devil's Peak." Brain Graves, another Bay City detective, added with a thin smile.

"Has anybody reported noticing anything strange going on in these parts lately besides the local farmers who've had animals coming up missing or killed?" Dobey asked as the band of officers began to walk up the gradually increasing incline that led up onto the mountain.

"Some of the locals claim to have seen strange flickering lights up near the crest of the mountain late at night." Markwell told them mumbling around a toothpick that he had stuck in his mouth. "And a couple of teenagers making out over by the lake said the devil chased 'em off…but they'd been drinking so nobody put much store in what they said."

Dobey and his men exchanged a knowing glance. They were all wondering the same thing. Had the teenagers seen some of Marcus's disciples dressed in their black hooded robes roaming the countryside?

The hike through the rugged terrain was rougher than any of them had anticipated despite the warning from the Centerville officers. The ground was rocky and uneven with large patches of overgrown grass and weeds. The weeds and grass hid potential dangers concealing hidden tree roots, rocks and animal burrows. All of the searchers watched their step, walking with care as they followed their guides up the steep slope of the mountain.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

The coolness of a rag against his face aroused Hutch from the darkness of his mind. He opened his mouth, his parched throat and swollen tongue desperately seeking some moisture. As if sensing his need, Hutch felt the rim of a cup pressed against his lips and he instinctively gulped down the tepid water. The cup was pulled away much too soon and Hutch grunted in protest, forcing open his heavy eyelids and struggling to focus on the face looming over him in the semi-darkness of the cave.

"More…please…" he managed to croak out past his cracked, dried lips.

"In a bit." a young sounding voice said "Drink too much and it'll just come right back up on you."

Hutch sighed and closed his eyes, momentarily drifting back into the darkness where he felt safe and secure. Then the pain in his heart flared anew and his eyes flew open with a ragged sob. "Starskyyyy…" he whimpered.

"Shhh…" the voice soothed him as the cloth brushed over his face once more. "They'll hear you…"

"I don't care…" Hutch choked out, batting weakly at the hands that were trying to help him. "They killed Starsky…they might as well kill me too…"

"No…Polaris isn't dead…they just took him to one of the other caves."

Hutch forced his eyes open again and struggled to clear the cobwebs from his brain. A surge of hope flared in his chest. "He's alive?" he said in a strained voice. He panted heavily as he struggled to sit up. "But, I saw him…he was dead…"

"No, he wasn't dead…Joshua put something in the water he gave me to give to him…"

Hutch finally identified the voice as belonging to a young boy, probably a teenager from the way the boy's cracked unexpectedly at times. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light flickering from a lantern near the tunnel that led to the outside, Hutch recognized the youth as the boy he knew as Dylan. Instinctively Hutch drew back from the boy's touch remembering how he had helped to set the two detectives up to be abducted.

"Why are you doing this?" Hutch asked, his voice growing stronger as he grew more alert.  
"You'll go to prison right along with the rest of them. Is that what you want?"

"I didn't know!" Dylan insisted, his eyes filling with tears. "I swear…I didn't know what they were going to do! Joshua told me nobody would get hurt…"

"He lied." Hutch muttered in a tired voice. His winced as the various aches and pains in his body made themselves known with a renewed vengeance. "They're going to kill me and my partner both and the court is going to say that you're just as guilty as the rest of them…"

"I'm scared…I don't think Joshua trusts me anymore…" Dylan said sounding like the scared adolescent that he really was. "Every time I turn around one of the others is watching me…and Joshua has ordered that nobody is allowed to leave the compound until after the full moon tomorrow night."

"You have to help us before they kill us all…including you. You're no use to them anymore." Hutch said deciding to appeal to the boy's fear for his own safety.

"I told you! They're watching me!" Dylan hissed "I can't even take a piss without somebody looking over my shoulder!"

"Then why are you here?"

"Because Joshua ordered me to watch over you until the final ceremony."

"You said that Starsky was still alive…that they just took him to another cave," Hutch said "How badly is he hurt?"

"Bad…I don't think he can take much more…" Dylan admitted. He sniffed and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Dylan, listen to me…" Hutch pleaded "You have to find a way to get help before it's too late…I'll do everything I can to help you after this all over and so will Starsky…but you have to help us get out of here before they kill us."

"I can't…" Dylan cried, tears running down his face. "I can't…"

"You know your way around…there's has to be a way you can sneak away and get help before anyone knows your gone." Hutch insisted

"Here, drink some more water." Dylan said, pressing the rim of the cup against Hutch's lips to silence him. Hutch swallowed draining the cup. Exhausted, he closed his eyes and drifted back into the darkness.

Dylan sat the cup down on the ground and rocked back on his haunches staring at the blond laying on the ground in front of him. He chewed on his bottom lip as his eyes darted around the interior of the cave anxiously. He mulled over Hutch's words in his mind. His heart told him that the big blond was telling the truth. If he didn't find a way to get help, they would all end up dead including Dylan himself. Despite the terror he felt at betraying the cult Dylan knew that he had to try.

Dylan let his mind drift as he considered his options. He knew that there were two guards posted at the entrance to the tunnel so that line of escape was out of the question. But there were other tunnels that ran between the caves and Dylan knew the location of most of them. When they first brought him to the compound, he had been fascinated by the caves and had spent hours exploring them. He knew there was another tunnel near the back of the cavern that could be assessed only through a tiny crack in the wall. He knew that the crack was too small for most of the other men to squeeze through but Dylan thought that he could do it even though he had never tried before.

He knew it would dangerous using an uncharted tunnel without knowing where it would lead but he also knew that it was his only chance of escaping the watchful eye of the cult. With a determined cock of his head, he straightened up and walked across the floor of the cavern to grab the lantern sitting on the ledge next to the opening that led into the darkness of the main tunnel.

Turning on his heel, he made his way back across the cave to the jagged crack in the wall that opened into the hidden tunnel. Taking a deep breath, Dylan slowly began to edge his way through the crack. It was a tight squeeze and at one point Dylan was terrified that he was stuck but managed to work his way loose. The lantern made it even more difficult but he knew that he would need the light to find his way through the partially concealed passageway.

Finally, after several minutes of struggling and wiggling, Dylan found himself inside the tunnel. He had a few scrapes and some bruises but otherwise he was unhurt. The tunnel was pitch black and cooler than the rest of the cave. Dylan could smell bat droppings and hear the rustling of the creatures as they hid in the darkness above him. Slowly, he began making his way though the darkness.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

**A/N: Warning! This chapter contains both scenes of violence and sexual abuse. If this offends you, skip this chapter.**

The sound of loud angry voices jarred Hutch awake. He felt someone grab his hair and then a hand slapped his face.

"Where is he?" Joshua's voice snarled angrily. "Where's Dylan?"

"I don't know…" Hutch mumbled. He hoped that the boy had escaped to get help before it was too late. A second slap made Hutch groan softly as he bit the inside of his cheek.

"Enough!" Joshua's voice ordered harshly. "Bring him to the sacred place. We don't have much time."

Hutch felt hands grabbing at him, jerking him to his feet. Although his hands and feet were no longer bound, he was too weak and disoriented to struggle. He suddenly realized from the way his head was buzzing that the water Dylan had given him must have been drugged to keep him compliant. Hutch decided it would be to his advantage to pretend to be more out of it than he actually was.

Two men drug Hutch out of the cave and into the sunlight. Hutch flinched and closed his eyes against the glare that made his head pound relentlessly. Hutch opened his eyes a slit, just far enough to see where he was being taken. The men were pulling him into the woods that hid the compound. They seemed to be following a well worn path that led deep into the woods.

After almost ten minutes, Joshua and the two men dragging Hutch's limp body between them stepped out of the woods and into a small clearing. There was a stone altar built in the middle of the clearing and Starsky was lying on his back on top of it. His legs were spread with his ankles tied to stakes that were embedded into each corner of the stone. His arms were stretched over his head and bound with a rope that was wrapped around a nearby tree.

Starsky's eyes were swollen shut from the numerous beatings he had been subjected to. Bruises, cuts and abrasions covered most of Starsky's body, mute testament to the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the cult. He had been stripped naked, leaving him vulnerable and defenseless. Starsky had lost at least ten pounds during their captivity, leaving his ribs and hipbones sharply defined beneath his skin. It was apparent to Hutch that Starsky was critically injured. Only the faint movement of his chest reassured Hutch that his partner was still alive. But he wouldn't be for long without immediate medical attention.

The two men shoved Hutch up against a tree facing the altar. They tied his hands securely around the trunk with a second rope tied securely around his legs and ankles. Joshua smiled thinly as he stepped forward. He held a long heavy scarf in his hand, twisting it threateningly between his hands. Hutch glared at him belligerently refusing to be intimidated by the cult leader's menacing presence.

"Soon Polaris will fulfill his destiny as ordained by Simon." Joshua intoned. "The dark star shall burn out and the white knight will be offered as the final sacrifice to the dark master so Simon can be reborn."

"Fuck you, you crazy son of a bitch." Hutch growled "Even if you kill us both…that won't bring Simon back. That bastard's dead and rotting in hell!"

Joshua leaned in closer, wrapping the scarf around Hutch's mouth and tying the ends around the tree, forcing Hutch to keep his head upright. He whispered in Hutch's ear "You know that and I know that…but the rest of these fools don't. When this is over, they'll do anything I say." With an evil sounding chuckle, Joshua backed away and stared at his captive with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Unable to speak, Hutch conveyed his hatred for the man with his eyes. Instinctively, he tested his restraints but the ropes were tired securely with no give. Ignoring Joshua, he focused his attention on his partner. He relied on the almost psychic bond that existed between them to let Starsky know that he was there and that if they were going to die, they would die together. He knew that neither one of them was in any condition to escape even if they were able to. Even if they could, they were outnumbered and stranded in the middle of nowhere.

As Hutch stared at his partner, he felt a sudden peace wash over him and he knew that Starsky knew that he was there. Hutch took a deep breath and closed his eyes, sending the last of his waning strength to his partner.

_I'm here, Buddy…you're not alone…It'll be over soon…and we'll be together…these bastards aren't going to win…not this time…_

Hutch opened his eyes in time to see a man move to the tree where the rope was tied that bound Starsky's hands over his head. He watched helplessly as the man untied the rope and began pulling on it, stretching Starsky's arms out even further and putting a terrible strain on the brunet's shoulders. A hiss of pain escaped Starsky's lips as his back arched against the pain. Sweat broke out on his forehead as the tendons and muscles in his shoulders and arms bulged out from the strain. Hutch heard the sharp cry of pain as both of Starsky's shoulders dislocated. The man pulling the rope quickly re-secured it around the tree keeping the strain on Starsky's upper torso.

Joshua stepped up to Starsky and pulled a large wicked looking knife from beneath his robe. Holding it skyward as if he were blessing it, he said, "It has begun…the blood of this man shall be spilled to redeem the master…"

With those ominous words, he brought the knife down in a vicious arch, slashing a deep gash across Starsky's exposed chest. Starsky's guttural cry of pain echoed in the air. Joshua cut three more gashes in Starsky's body, another one on his chest, and one across each forearm. The gashes bled freely but not fast enough to indicate a fatal wound that had severed an artery. Still, even with a slow bleeder, Starsky would bleed out without medical intervention. Hutch could see the heaving of Starsky's chest as he struggled to breath through the pain.

The sight of Starsky's blood seemed to excite the other followers. Their voices grew louder as they chanted Simon's name with a religious fervor. The woman in white stepped out of the circle of followers and approached the altar with her head bowed in submission.

Joshua smiled and reached out to take her hand. With the bloodstained knife, he cut a gash on her right forearm. In a loud voice, he proclaimed, "This virgin shall be the vessel that will carry the reborn master and return Simon to us!" Pulling her forward by her arm, Joshua pressed her forearm against one of the gashes on Starsky's chest and declared, "Her blood shall mix with the dark angel's and his seed shall bear fruit in her womb."

When he released her arm, the woman unfastened her dress and stepped out of it standing before the congregation in the nude. She stood there with her head bowed as two female disciples stepped forward. The other two women began trying to sexually stimulate Starsky into an erection. One of them licked at his wounds and sucked at his nipples, while the second woman fondled his testicles and sucked at his unresponsive penis.

Hutch watched the scene unfolding in front of him, pulling relentlessly at the ropes that bound his hands. He knew that Starsky was in no condition to respond sexually to the women and he was terrified at what Joshua was liable to do if Starsky couldn't perform as anticipated.

The women tried for several minutes to get Starsky to respond but his penis remained flaccid. Finally, Joshua stepped forward and took a small vial of colorless liquid from his robe. With one hand he pressed Starsky's nostrils together, forcing him to open his mouth in order to breath. When he did, Joshua poured the liquid down his throat. Stepping back, he smiled in satisfaction and said, "Soon, Polaris will carry out Simon's dream and the master will be resurrected…"

He turned to the young woman beside him and reached out to fondle her full breasts. Hutch saw her wince in pain as he twisted one of her nipples between two of his fingers. Ignoring her discomfort, he slipped his other hand between her legs and began touching her there. She squirmed uncomfortably but never made a sound as he continued rubbing his fingers against her. Turning his attention back to Starsky, Hutch noticed that Starsky was rocking his head back and forth and whimpering. His hips moved almost involuntarily against the stone beneath him and he his penis was starting to thicken. Obviously whatever Joshua had given him had been designed to override his physical limitations and force him to respond sexually.

As the drug coursed through is bloodstream, Starsky began to pull against his restraints, oblivious to the pain of his dislocated shoulders. Joshua watched with a pleased smile as Starsky's erection continued to grow harder and longer. Throwing his hands up to the sky, he bellowed "The time is near! Soon the ceremony will begin!"


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

Dylan walked for what seemed like hours along the dark, narrow tunnel. It twisted and turned unexpectedly until he lost all sense of direction. When the lantern went out, he abandoned it and used his hands to feel his way along the walls of the cavern. He began to fear that he would never find his way out when he saw a faint glimmer of light in the distance. With a dogged determination he pushed on forcing one weary foot in front of the other.

Finally, he pushed his way through the heavy overgrowth that blocked the exit to the tunnel and slipped out into the sunlight. He paused to catch his breath and tried to get his bearings. The surrounding area was remote and isolated. It took him several minutes to realize that he was on the opposite side of the mountain from the compound. He knew that he still wasn't out of danger. Joshua had assigned guards to patrol the area to keep out intruders. He would have to stay hidden while he tried to find a way to help the two policemen that he had helped to abduct. Dylan was scared. He knew if any of the disciples found him, they would kill him and it would not be a quick or easy death. He would pay dearly for betraying them. Moving deeper into the woods, Dylan slowly began making his way down the mountain.

It was slow going. The brush was overgrown and he tripped more than once on hidden roots. Slender branches from the trees slapped him in the face and he cut his hands on thorns as he bushed his way through the tangled brush. Suddenly, he found himself out of the woods and on a steep incline that led down the mountain.

His heart pounded with fear when he heard the sound of voices in the distance. Darting back under the cover of the trees, he peered cautiously out through the foliage. He saw a group of men and two women trudging up the mountain towards him. Two of the men wore the uniform of the local police while the others were all dressed in casual clothing. Dylan realized that they must be searching for the missing detectives but he was too afraid to make his presence known. As they came closer to his hidden location, Dylan realized that one of the men was Huggy Bear.

Dylan chewed at his bottom lip anxiously. He remembered how nice Huggy had been to him and he felt guilty about the way he had used the black bartenders easily offered friendship. He hesitated and then stepped out into the open, in plain sight of the team of searchers.

"Dylan!" Huggy called out when he saw the boy. His voice was angry but calm. Before anyone could stop him, Huggy stepped forward and grabbed Dylan's arm. Glaring at the frightened teenager, Huggy shook him roughly and said, "Where are they? Where's Starsky and Hutch?"

"Joshua has them." Dylan stammered nervously. "He's going to kill them if you don't stop him."

A burly black man came forward and glowered at Dylan intimidatingly. Dylan instinctively took a step backwards as the black man growled, "Tell us where they are!"

"At the compound…" Dylan said. He waved his hand towards the south. "It's about two or three miles back that way. But, it might already be too late. They were both in bad shape especially the dark haired one."

"Tell us how to get there!" Huggy ordered, gripping Dylan's arm tighter for emphasis.

"I can't tell you. I have to show you." Dylan argued. "It's hard to find if you don't know how to get there."

The burly black man pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket and snapped one bracelet around Dylan's right wrist. Grabbing Huggy's arm, he fastened the other bracelet around Huggy's left wrist.

"Hey!" Huggy complained in a startled voice when he realized what Dobey had done.

"That way I know he's not going anywhere!" Dobey growled. "And he's not going to be able to warn them that we're coming."

"Looks like we're stuck with each other for now, kid." Huggy smirked as he shook his arm making the handcuffs rattle. He leaned in and stared at Dylan darkly "You better hope my friends are alive…or you'll be answering to me."

"I'm sorry…" Dylan said, choking back a sob. "I didn't know what Joshua had planned. He promised me that nobody would get hurt."

"And you believed him?" Huggy snorted "I didn't think you were that dumb."

"All right, kid," Collier said "Now where exactly is this compound?"

"About two miles from the old Indian caves." Dylan told him. "That's where Joshua and the others hold most of their ceremonies but I don't think that's where they planned on doing the final ceremony."

"Where would they do the final ceremony?" Dobey demanded impatiently.

"I'm not sure." Dylan admitted, hanging his head in shame. "It's somewhere in the woods. I've never been there but it can't be far from the main compound."

"We'd better get started." Markwell said "It gets dark early up here and we can't afford to lose the light."

The group of searchers began trudging on, heading south towards the caves and the hidden compound. They had been making their way through the woods for almost an hour when Collier raised his hand, signaling for silence.

Listening intently, the faint sound of chanting could be heard coming from the southeast. Dobey and the other police officers automatically took out their weapons and checked them to make sure they were loaded. "You two stay here." He told Huggy and Dylan. He glanced at Minnie and added, "Minnie, you stay with them." Minnie nodded in understanding. It would be her responsibility to protect them while the others tried to rescue Starsky and Hutch.

Collier used his walkie talkie to contact the other search team and give them their approximate location. Although the leader of the other team wanted them to wait until they got there before going in all the officers gathered knew that they didn't have time to wait.

"Negetive. We're going in." Collier told the other team. "Just get the hell here as soon as you can. We're gonna need all the help we can get. We don't know how many of these bastards we're up against."

"There's about ten of them, including Joshua." Dylan said helpfully.

"There's about ten that we know of." Collier passed along to his co-worker "But there could be more. Make sure that ambulance and the paramedics are standing by. It sounds like we're gonna need them." Collier broke off communication and the group of officers began moving stealthily towards the sound of the chanting.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

Hutch felt the blood dripping from the tips of his fingers from his mangled wrists. He had been forced to watch helplessly as Joshua and his band of followers abused and tortured his defenseless partner. The physical abuse had been bad enough but now an element of sexual abuse had been added to the mix. The scene in front of him was one of chaos.

Starsky lay on the stone altar, his body twitching and jerking as whatever drugs had been forced down his throat stimulated his sexual desire. His erection bobbed against his stomach, fluid seeping from the tip. The two women continued to caress and fondle his body as directed by Joshua earlier adding to Starsky's confusion and disorientation.

Joshua had turned his attention to the woman who had been chosen to carry a child conceived from Starsky's seed that the cult believed would be the reincarnation of Simon Marcus. He fondled her and caressed her body intimately while she stood beside him passively. Hutch knew from previous contact with the cult that drugs were used extensively to keep most of the disciples in line and under Simon's influence. It appeared that Joshua had just as much influence over the followers as Simon had.

Some of the other disciples had paired off and were in various stages of copulation which Hutch had no doubt would erupt into a sexual orgy at the height of the ceremony. Sex and drugs two of the most powerful driving forces in human nature. Combine those two forces with disillusioned young men and women who were lost and seeking some sort of acceptance, and it was easy to see how someone like Simon or Joshua could easily take control and force them to bend to their will.

Hutch had struggled to free himself until the skin on his wrists was tore open and bleeding freely. He was weak from a lack of food and very little water since their capture but his mind was focused on one thing and one thing only. Saving his best friend from any further abuse. Being forced to watch the cult members torture Starsky and abuse him so far had torn Hutch apart inside. It was his job, his responsibility, to protect his partner, to give his own life to protect him, if that was what it took and he had failed in his duty. It was just another failure that Hutch would never be able to forgive himself for.

He had no doubt that they intended to kill Starsky in front of him and then to kill Hutch, but Hutch vowed that if he got the chance, he would take out as many of them as he could before he died. He would send them to hell where they belonged and then gladly die himself so he could be reunited with Starsky for eternity.

"It is time." Joshua declared, shoving the young woman beside towards the altar. She stumbled forward reaching out instinctively with her hands to keep from falling. Two male disciples stepped forward and took her hands preparing to help her to straddle Starsky's bound body. A guttural moan escaped from Starsky's lips as the young woman's body settled over his groin pressing down against his throbbing erection.

Suddenly, there was a burst of activity from the trees off to Hutch's left. "Hold it! Police!" a loud voice yelled out followed by the sound of a gunshot in the air. Several heavily armed men burst into the clearing, all holding guns. Hutch felt a surge of relief when he recognized Captain Dobey and two detectives from Metro among the blur of faces. It looked like the Calvary had arrived.

Several of the woman screamed and some of the men rushed towards the officers. Shots rang out and two of the men fell to the ground. "Hands up! Now!" The order came from a man wearing the tan uniform of a local police officer.

Joshua surveyed the intruders with a smirk on his hawk like face. He raised his hands slowly into the air in a gesture of surrender and said, "Do as they say. There's not reason for anyone else to die today…" He told the others who grudgingly complied without any further resistance.

The rescue party moved forward cautiously keeping a close eye on the cult members for any signs of attack. As one of the local officers pulled Joshua's hands behind his back and handcuffed him, the self proclaimed cult leader looked at the men who had fouled his plans and said, "Simon will prevail. Eventually, the dark angel and the white knight will fulfill their destiny as ordained by Simon."

"Secure the prisoners until back up gets here." Dobey ordered gruffly as he hurried to aide his two injured detectives. The young woman who had been straddling Starsky's body immediately scrambled to the ground and huddled beside Joshua covering herself as best she could with her hands. Dobey pulled off the lightweight jacket he had been wearing to conceal his weapon and gently draped it over Starsky's waist to hide his nudity while one of the other men began to gently cut the ropes that held him prisoner.

Two other men hurried to Hutch's side and began to cut him loose. They caught him in their arms as the big blond fell forward once he was free.

"Starsky…" Hutch mumbled, reaching out weakly towards his partner. "I need to be with Starsky…"

With gentle understanding and compassion, the two men led Hutch to his partner's side. Leaning heavily against them for support, Hutch reached out and gently brushed his fingertips along Starsky's beard roughened cheek.

"I'm here, buddy…I'm right here. You're gonna be okay now…it's all over…" Hutch's voice choked with emotion as he stared into the beloved face of his best friend. Starsky still seemed unaware of his surroundings but seemed to calm down at the sound of Hutch's voice and his gentle touch.

Hutch ignored the bustle of activity going on around him as the team of officers rounded up the rest of the cult members and secured them until backup arrived. He focused his attention solely on the dark haired man lying on the stone slab in front of him. Ignoring the pain of his own mangled wrists, Hutch reached out and gently took one of Starsky's hands in his own holding it tightly as they waited for the ambulance and paramedics to arrive.

Hutch was surprised that the cult had surrendered without any resistance but he didn't care what their reasons were for being so compliant. Joshua's parting threat echoed in Hutch's ears but he was accustomed to empty threats from suspects that he had sent away over the years. He and Starsky were still alive and that was all that mattered. Once more they had beaten the odds and now all that remained was picking up the pieces of their shattered lives and getting it back to normal again.

Hutch gazed at Starsky's face. The brunet appeared to have lost consciousness, only an involuntary twitch now and then of his muscles showing any discomfort. Hutch prayed that he would remain unconscious until he could be transported to the hospital so his injuries could be treated. He had suffered enough over the past few days.

Hutch felt his own strength waning but he stayed upright through sheer will power, watching over his partner until the paramedics arrived. Dobey appeared at his side and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

"The paramedics are on their way up the mountain with the other rescue team. They should be here in a few minutes. He's going to be fine…you both are."

"I hope so…it was close this time, Cap…too close. I almost lost him…" Hutch said in a choked voice "And I couldn't do a damn thing about it…all I could do was watch while they tortured him…" Hutch's voice failed him as tears flooded his eyes. Normally, he was able to keep his emotions under control and concealed from everyone but Starsky but at the moment, he was too vulnerable to care what Dobey thought about his unaccustomed display of emotion.

Dobey held his tongue, simply tightening his grip on Hutch's shoulder offering his silent support. He knew how close Starsky and Hutch were, closer than most partners. In Dobey's eyes they were two halves of the same whole, complete only when they were together. True soul mates in every sense of the word. He felt privileged to have witnessed the bond as it had developed between the two men he had come to consider a part of his family. He knew that Hutch would have as much trouble recovering from this ordeal as Starsky would for entirely different reasons. Starsky's injuries may be both physical and mental while Hutch's were definitely mental and emotional ones. Care needed to be taken to keep the blond from burying himself in guilt for not protecting Starsky from harm.

Dobey was relieved to see the paramedics arrive with the rest of the rescue team. He stepped aside as they hurried to the altar and began to assess Starsky and Hutch's condition. Within minutes, they had the two detectives stabilized and ready to take down the mountain to the waiting ambulance. Dobey watched as they were each laid on a stretcher. Men from the rescue party stepped forward to help carry their precious burdens out of the wilderness and to the safety of the hospital where they could receive the care they both so desperately needed.

Dobey was satisfied with the way the rescue and the capture of the cult members had gone down. Only two lives had been lost and the remaining cultists had surrendered without any resistance at Joshua's command. The heart of the cult had been lost when Simon was murdered. Joshua was simply a pale imitation of the dark master that had ruled with intimidation, manipulation and a blood lust that sent a spike of fear into the heart of men.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

Slowly awareness returned to Hutch's clouded mind. Muted sounds and smells assaulted his senses. Soft beeping, muted overhead pages, the antiseptic smell that told him he was in a hospital. With some effort he forced open his heavy eyelids and focused on his surroundings. An small room with sea green walls, a familiar bed with metal rails on either side and a thin uncomfortable mattress, an IV hanging beside his head, and machines that monitored his vital signs.

Suddenly, another more pressing need registered in his mind. Struggling to raise himself on his elbows, he choked out, "Starsky?"

A figure moved out of the shadows beside him and Huggy Bear's smiling face came into view. He reached out and gently put one hand on Hutch's shoulder easing him back onto the bed. "Relax, Blondie." He said in a soothing tone. "He's right there in the other bed."

Hutch turned his head until he saw Starsky lying in the second bed in the room. His eyes were closed and he was hooked up to even more machines and tubes than Hutch was but the gentle rise and fall of his chest assured Hutch that he was still alive.

"How bad?" Hutch asked

Sensing that Hutch was asking about Starsky and not himself, Huggy said quietly,

"He's pretty banged up but the doc says he should pull through."

"How bad?" Hutch repeated in a harsh whisper desperate to know the exact nature of Starsky's injuries.

Huggy sighed and began to list Starsky's injuries. "He's got a skull fracture, two dislocated shoulders, a couple of broken fingers, some broken ribs, a bruised kidney, and some internal bleeding that had the docs worried for a while but they got it under control. He's also got a lot of bruises, cuts and some pretty nasty burns. They got him on the good stuff so his body can rest and start to heal." He looked at Hutch with a smirk. "And in case you're interested, you tore up both wrists pretty good and you got a few bumps of bruises of your own. Plus you were both pretty dehydrated and you've both lost a few pounds."

"I don't care about me. He's the one they tortured right in front of me…and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it!"

"That's not your fault. They wanted you to suffer by making you watch him suffer." Huggy reminded him.

"Did they get them all?"

"Yeah…they all surrendered without even putting up a fight."

"What about the boy? Dylan?" Hutch said struggling to keep his eyes open as a sudden weariness seemed to overwhelm him.

"He's agreed to cooperate and testify against the others." Huggy told him "In exchange the prosecutor's agreed to a deal…probation until he turns twenty one and he'll be going to a foster home."

"He saved our lives…" Hutch said sleepily. "He's a good kid…just a little mixed up…"

His eyes drifted shut as he finally gave into the drugs that ran into his veins from his IV.

Huggy smiled fondly. "Get some sleep, Blondie. Curly's gonna need you when he wakes up." He stood there for a few minutes watching over his friend before leaving the room. Once more his two best friends had been granted a miracle and would survive what they had been through. But, Huggy couldn't help wondering just how many more miracles the dynamic duo had left before their luck finally ran out.

It was later that afternoon when Hutch opened his eyes again. He felt more alert and less groggy than he had earlier. He automatically turned his gaze on his partner in the other bed. Starsky's eyes were still closed and he didn't seem to have changed positions from when Hutch had awakened earlier. He knew that the doctors had Starsky heavily sedated but it was still unnerving to see his normally active partner lying so still.

Hutch sighed and took stock of his own injuries. His wrists stung and burned. They were securely wrapped with a thick layer of gauze that hid the mangled skin. He had a migraine but that was to be expected. He had a few other aches and pains but nothing that he couldn't handle. But, his physical injuries were minor compared to the deep ache in his heart and the overwhelming guilt that threatened to tear his very soul into pieces.

He glanced over at his partner again and whispered,

"I'm here, buddy…I'm here. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better…I guess that makes me a lousy partner." He sighed heavily and continued "I try…I try so hard to be there when you need me but I always seem to fuck up and you end up getting hurt. I can't keep doing this…I can't keep watching you get hurt because I didn't take care of you the way I should."

A soft moan sounded from the direction of the other bed and Hutch jerked his eyes towards his partner's face instinctively. Starsky's eyes were still closed but he had turned his head towards Hutch responding automatically to the distress in his partner's voice.

"What have I ever done to deserve a friend like you?" Hutch said with a fond smile as he continued to open up his heart to his partner and best friend. "You're so damn loyal. No matter how bad I screw up you always forgive me…even when I don't deserve it. All I do is take and all you do is keep giving…" Hutch's voice cracked with emotion. "I swear I'm gonna do better from now on…I'm gonna be the kind of friend you deserve. No matter what I have to do…I'm going to make sure that nobody ever hurts you again…"

Hutch closed his eyes and swallowed hard trying to dislodge the lump in his throat. He knew he was making a promise that he might not be able to keep but he was determined to try. His life meant nothing if he didn't have Starsky in it. Before he met Starsky, his life had been so empty and he couldn't go back to living that way again. He would lose the best part of himself if he ever lost Starsky. But, he would lose even more than that. He would lose his very will to survive. His life had become so intertwined with Starsky's that he had no life without Starsky by his side. At least not one that he wanted to live.

Hutch let himself fall back into the comforting darkness where he didn't have to think about a life without Starsky.

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	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16**

It was three days before Starsky finally regained consciousness. He was confused and disoriented, whimpering in pain whenever he shifted positions. Despite his own injuries, Hutch scrambled out of bed and to his partner's side. He grabbed Starsky's left hand and stroked the back of it gently.

"It's okay, buddy…" he said in a quiet, soothing voice "You're safe…it's all over and I'm right here. Hutch is here."

"Hurts…" Starsky whimpered, forcing his eyes open enough to focus on Hutch's face.

"I know it does, babe." Hutch said as he reached out to press the bell to summon the nurse. "Just try to relax…okay?"

"Mmmmm..." Starsky mumbled as he carefully rolled over onto his side, pulling his knees up towards his chest. His fingers tightened around Hutch's hand as he struggled to control the pain that threatened to overwhelm him. A faint smile tugged at his lips when he felt Hutch's fingers brushing through his curls.

"I'm sorry, buddy…I'm so sorry…" Hutch said fighting to hold back the tears that flooded his eyes. He hated seeing his partner in pain especially when he blamed himself for not being able to prevent Starsky's from getting hurt.

"Not…your…fault…dummy…" Starsky said breathlessly, the effort of talking wearing him out quickly. His memory of his abuse at the hands of the cult was sketchy at best but Starsky knew that Hutch would have stopped it if he could have. He also knew Hutch's capacity for assuming the responsibility and the guilt for anything bad that happened to Starsky even when it wasn't his fault. Starsky's instinct was to protect his partner even if it meant protecting Hutch from himself.

"I should have tried harder…I should have been able to find a way to stop them…" Hutch stammered nervously. His voice lowered and turned ragged, "I had to watch them while they hurt you…and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it…"

"Hutch, stop it…" Starsky said sharply. "You couldn't have done anything to stop them…they made sure of that."

Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a nurse who quickly injected some medication into Starsky's IV and then quietly slipped out of the room leaving the two friends alone. Starsky's eyes immediately grew heavy but he fought to keep them open. He stared into Hutch's sky blue eyes with a fierce determination as he whispered,

"Not your fault…stop beating yourself up over it…"

Hutch bowed his head and closed his eyes. He wasn't willing to let go of his guilt, not just yet. In a barely audible voice, he mumbled, "I can't do this anymore, buddy…I can't…"

"Can't what?" Starsky asked in a slurred voice. He was beginning to lose his battle to stay awake as the medication flowed through his veins but he didn't like the defeated sound he heard in Hutch's voice. "What can't you do anymore, Hutch?" he repeated wearily.

"I can't watch you keep getting hurt because I couldn't stop it…" Hutch admitted in a choked voice. "I can't keep taking the chance of losing you…"

"You're not going to lose me…" Starsky said quietly. "And you can't keep me from getting hurt…no matter how hard you try…you need to accept that fact, Blondie." He paused to catch his breath as he struggled to stay awake. "You can't blame yourself every time something happens to me…as long as you're there to pick up the pieces in the end…"

"Always…" Hutch declared fiercely. "I'll always be there for you…"

"Good…then shut up and let me get some sleep. You look like you could use some rest yourself." Starsky's voice faded away as he finally lost the battle with the drugs and fell into a deep, drugged sleep.

Hutch sat there for several minutes watching his peacefully sleeping partner. Realistically, he knew that the things Starsky had said were true but it still didn't ease the guilt that he felt deep inside his heart. He couldn't close his eyes without finding himself back in that cavern watching helplessly as his best friend was viciously tortured and abused. He didn't know what to do; he just knew that he had to do something. Finally, he returned to his own bed and fell into a restless slumber.

Over the next two days, Starsky slowly regained his strength. He couldn't do anything for himself with two dislocated shoulders so Hutch took over his personal care. He bathed him, fed him and helped him back and forth to the bathroom. Starsky was still unsteady on his feet but the doctor was pleased with his progress.

Hutch's own injuries were healing and he was well enough to be released from the hospital but he stubbornly refused to leave until Starsky was well enough to leave with him. Recognizing the unique bond between the two men and understanding Hutch's obsessive need to care for his injured partner, the doctor agreed to let Hutch stay in the hospital with Starsky.

Fiercely independent by nature, Starsky would have resisted anyone but Hutch taking care of his most intimate needs. Over the years of their friendship, the two had cared for each other numerous times and had seen each other during the worst of times. There were no personal boundaries between them and any embarrassment they might have felt when it came for providing personal care to the other one had been overcome long ago. The friendly bantering that got them through the most horrendous situations out on the streets helped them through the more uncomfortable moments during Starsky's initial recovery.

It had been a long, tiring day and both men were exhausted. They had eaten their evening meal, food smuggled in to them by Huggy Bear from The Pits since neither one of them could tolerate the fare that the hospital insisted on calling food. Now, they simply relaxed on their individual beds and talked quietly between themselves.

"You're not still kicking yourself over what happened are you?" Starsky asked, broaching the subject they had both been avoiding for the past few days.

"No, I guess not…" Hutch said a bit hesitantly. "I mean…I know I couldn't have done anything to stop them…they made sure of that."

"They wanted you to watch." Starsky said "They knew that was the best way to make you suffer too…"

"Yeah, well…it worked." Hutch grunted. "I don't think I can do this anymore, Starsk…"

"Do what?" Starsky asked carefully, his heart pounding in his chest as he waited for Hutch's answer.

"Go on watching you get hurt because of who we are…what we do…" he turned to look at his partner, his eyes pleading for understanding. "I don't think I can go on being a cop…scared that next time we're not going to be so lucky…"

"Are you saying you wanna quit?"

"I don't know…maybe…or at least find something safer to do than what we're doing right now…" Hutch admitted sadly.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe we could talk to Dobey…see what our options were…"

"Okay. If that's what you want…I'm with you all the way." Starsky said with a crooked smile. "It's not like I'm going to be going back to work for a while."

"You don't have to do this just because I want to throw in the towel." Hutch pointed out "You love being a cop…I don't expect you to give that up because of me…"

"Hey, I might love being a cop…but I'm not getting any younger and neither are you. You're right…it's time we left the streets to the younger guys and moved on." Starsky said "I mean…hell…with our experience and our records…we should be able to call the shots and find something we love doing just as much."

"You'd really do that for me?" Hutch asked hesitantly looking at his friend hopefully.

"Yeah. You don't have to twist my arm. I'm tired too, buddy…and I don't want to go through something like this again either…"

"I guess we got a lot to think about then," Hutch said with a genuine smile of relief. "We don't have to rush into anything. We'll talk to Dobey when you're ready."

"Good…now that that's settled, let's get some sleep." Starsky said as he curled up on his side and closed his eyes. Hutch smiled and closed his own eyes. He had no idea what the future held in store but he knew that they would be in it together. Maybe they could even take the exam for a promotion. They had earned the right to get off the streets before it was too late. As he drifted off to sleep, Hutch wondered what Starsky would think if he suggested starting their own business. Hutchinson and Starsky Investigations. Hmmm….

The End? (Maybe. Maybe Not.)

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this story. I will be taking a short break but will be back soon with another story. **


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